Old Women

As one that has always loved women;

as one that has always admired girls

then, as becoming older, women,

so often I have wondered of their thoughts

when gazed upon by first boys

then later in life by men

and now, beyond middle age...?

And though,

I must admit,

I have always been,

when first younger,

and now older,

I have always been one

to look upon and so admire the

beauty of a passing, when younger, girl

and now, as I am older, the retained beauty

of an older woman.

And still I wonder how this passing woman

must feel when at one time,

when in her youth she was gazed upon

with wishful longing,

but now,

when beyond middle age,

when now the admiring looks of men no longer come.

When once, annoyed by the looks of men,

this woman may have drawn her sweater tightly about her

or her jacket closer side to side.

But now,

when beyond middle age,

does this once youthfully beautiful woman miss the admiring looks of the opposite sex?

As for me,

as for this older man,

as for this old man I still look longingly

at this older woman,

this older woman who has retained the

shadow of her once youthful beauty

and can, in my thoughts, imagine the

beauty of this woman in the days of her youth,

and so often I will approach with a smile

and a gently, sincerely  said,

“You look lovely today,”

then the smile upon the face of this

once youthful beauty, brightening,

would remove the years of this

beyond middle aged woman.