April 9, 2010 A Girl at Sixty

Here is the prompt for April 9:
"For today's prompt, write a self-portrait poem.Other artists study themselves to create compositions (not all of them exactly flattering either), so it is only natural that poets, who are word artists, write self-portrait poems from time to time. In fact, some poets make self-portrait poetry "their main thing." For at least today, make it yours."





Self-Portrait of a Sixty Year Old Girl

Inside me lives a girl.
An adventurer who
Wears skirts just a skosh below her cheek-line,
Holds a microphone with absolute command.
Babies at her breasts, overflowing with mother nectar;
Dances in the sand,
Street,
Or backwoods tav;
Shoots pool, plays poker, rides biker mama,
Challenges cowboys, cops and all authority;
Hitchhikes at freeway on-ramps;
Writes letters home
Telling weary lies;
A seamstress, farmer, carpenter,
Who forsakes aging
And won’t surrender
To swollen knuckles,
Stiff ankles,
Bloated belly,
Sensing the girl within,
Noting surprise
At the unfamiliar old woman
In the mirror.