Exquisite one

Exquisite one

your teeth are little pearls, luminous

in your smile

eyes the purest aquamarine

could not compare

your scent like the sweetest hay

body taut even after all these years

how do I keep you

women must want to

throw themselves into your arms. 

And me, rolling my energy into the dust

a has been, yes

once my eyes were aquamarine too

now hidden under furrows of yesterday’s skin

my body soft

I know

the value of exercise

and diet

for a woman of yesterday

who does not

live for today

is truly

a has been

invisible.

Janet Bellinger

C 2000