HOLDING BACK THE SEA
By: Barbara Goodjoin
Gazing into the mirror at the reflection (all my own)
I smile and pout; wink my eyes
and try on a sexy frown.
Leaning in close, I look for lines around
my neck and eyes and mouth;
The signs of age that creep and pull
like the lunar moons gravity.
Holding back the hands of time
is as impossible as
holding back the sea.
Looking at ageless women
on television and in magazines,
I think about the money they spend
to look like beauty queens.
Nips and tucks to pull the skin
Botox to numb and freeze;
spanx to hide the dips and sags
and give the natural lift that lags.
A fem fatale at the age of eighty
looking like she is thirty-four
I can’t help but wonder
what she does when
aches and pains are at the door…
tell the maid to send them away
or pop a pill to escape—
perhaps pay someone to bear the pain–
there is the other possibility,
that they lock themselves behind closed doors
so that no one else can see…
that holding back the pain of age
is as impossible as holding back the sea.
Every now and then
reality breaks through—
a photo-shop fail, paparazzi sale
or mugshot shows the truth.
Make-up can hide–but
pictures don’t lie
It’s only themselves, they deceive
that holding back the creeping sign of age
is as impossible as holding back the sea.