She

SHE

I turn around and there you are

Wonderfully old

Hands furrowed with deep blue veins like little rivers

Skin as dry and parched as peeling Red Gum bark after an intense summer

The creams applied faithfully over so many years hasn’t worked

Small pebbly eyes still shine. A shrine to youth. Time gone by.

 Drooping lids once anchored them like diamonds in an exquisite piece of jewellery.

Jowls well developed, the mask of beauty slipping. Sliding.  Icing down a cake.

You’ve arrived much too soon

I wasn’t expecting you yet,

My voice screams but my lips are shut

The woman in the mirror does not reply