Age has found me with a tube of red lipstick,
a missing front tooth and a partial I had to put
in the lay-a-way cuz it cost too much to buy outright
Got pesky moles removed from my face an early
Christmas present from my friend who told me my skin
would look like the excitement I felt the first day
I went roller skating
Age has found me with a bottle of red nail polish,
books of blank pages and a calligrapher’s pen
My back is sore, my right knee aches
but my strokes are bold and long
penning scripts, exploring landscapes
walking the terrain anticipating what’s next
Margie Shaheed is a community poet, writer and teaching artist. She is the author of Playground poems (Hidden Charm Press 2015), Onomatopoeia (NightBallet Press 2015) and Mosaic (NightBallet Press 2013. Her “Playground” stories can be found at www.timbooktu.com.