Be pretty…
Paint yourself
into the shape of his eyes.
Are you kidding?
Conjuring my mirror
into his vision to erase mine
is silvered hell I won’t enter.
Does the moon dress in fear
or kohl its face to appease
night devils who stalk light with evil?
I have lines on my face mapping
the journey of calendars I’ve traveled,
dark hours I’ve survived, bright days I’ve danced.
My face is my face.
It holds gifts of my mother and father, ancestors,
shapeshifting, joining the unique reflection I possess.
Bare or painted, smile or frown, it’s taken several wrong
exits
to finally reach the truth, the only voice in the mirror
that matters is mine.
©Susie Clevenger 2021
Oh Susie, your wild and beautiful and treacherous journey has served you well as a poet! This is magnificent in truth and the strength you possess! I love this powerful poem!!!
ReplyDeleteVerse 4 is my favourite. Happy Sunday
ReplyDeleteThank you for dropping ny my blog
Much💜love
In the journey to find ones self there are often times of re-calibration. I enjoyed the following verse, just splendid writing.
ReplyDeleteI have lines on my face mapping
the journey of calendars I’ve traveled,
dark hours I’ve survived, bright days I’ve danced.
Your word-mastery never fails to entertain me, Susie. At this advanced age, I tend to consider the mirror silvered hell!
ReplyDeleteSusie, you have written the poem that I have lived. Totally awesome.
ReplyDelete"Does the moon dress in fear" - great! Lots of cool lines in this!
ReplyDeleteSusie, this writing will now become my favorite of yours.
ReplyDelete"Night devils" are ones for sure folk must stay away from. We have retrieved some trying to leave, most memorable is answering a call for fetching from an all night gas station at Kemah.
I have a doppelganger, several at least think I look like someone they have seen. Generally they will settle for the attorney who represented the lady here who killed her husband here by running over him with her Mercedes. But since all that notoriety he has grown a terrible looking beard. I keep mine neat and trimmed.
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Couldn't agree more. Our faces as we age are the mirror of our lives, and we only distort them when we "...paint ourselves into the shape of his eyes.." as consumerist society and vanity might urge us to do. Excellent take on the pic.
ReplyDeleteLove this. Be who you are, not what others want you to be.
ReplyDeleteSusie, this one is a keeper. It's a feminist declaration of independence! I gave up make-up for the most part when I retired in 2018. Sometimes (rarely) I wear it now, but for myself!
ReplyDeleteP.S. do you mind if I share this on facebook?
Of course, I'd be honored for you to share it.
DeleteA powerful poem of a person who is comfortable in their own skin.
ReplyDeleteThis is immense, Susie!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blog
ReplyDeletePlease read my post
ReplyDelete