AGEING GRACEFULLY

Phoebe Walsh

Why should I run towards the future,
But then run from it when I get too far
Like I’m running to and from the coast
As it breathes in and out towards the shore
So indecisively?

When I can’t wait till the day, I look at my hands
And see they resemble my grandmother’s?
And when I look forward to the day
That the eyes that gleam back at me in the mirror
Are lined with wrinkles, but happy all the same?
And when I’m excited for when my hair transforms
From brown to white, like the changing seasons
But still beautiful, as if it never changed at all?

Why should I try the brand-new retinol
That’s colonised every billboard I see,
When I could trace my fingers against my smile lines,
And let them know I’ll smile anyway?