A Poem for Mother's Day

This week before Mother’s Day I have been pondering a lot of issues concerning aging. My own mother is struggling with the decision of whether or not to keep dyeing her hair or embracing her gray, and I myself have turned thirty this year and have already been experiencing some signs of premature aging, not as much with aesthetics or my outward appearance (yet) but with my internal body. But I know time will leave more visible marks very soon, and I will be making my own decisions on how I want to present myself as time continues its march. I think any way is great, whether if it means becoming a silver fox or vixen, changing your haircolor entirely even from its younger, natural hue, wearing more makeup or less of it, altering your skincare to address wrinkles or sticking with what works… Whatever you or I or anyone decides at any point in their life is their own choice, and I pray it will always be done with a sense of self-love and celebration, honoring, and fun. But in thinking about all of this, I also came up with perhaps another way of thinking about aging inspired by a video I saw with natural skincare formulator May Lindstrom, and I put my thoughts into a poem!

Tiger Stripes

The lines, the lines

They won’t go away

Not really

However much we preen or smooth or iron

Every expression we own

Every look of care, concern, and concentration

The stretch of a smile

The cry of bliss

Etched into our every crevice

And our hair? How becoming

The silver-white

The presence of all colors

The gaining of insight

Not the mark of gracelessness

But that of beauty that is meant to evolve!

It never dies.

We may see our new creases and shades as things to erase

As if we’d want to lose time

Instead of savor what we’ve earned

The power that no monetary richness can ever buy

To stand our ground whole as maid, mother, sage, sailor, and child

All in one

Or however we choose to identify

Embracing the ongoing wild of life

You may call these acquisitions wrinkles and lines

But what if they were instead

Growing tiger stripes.