Aged and Ageless

Aged and Ageless

1.
Excessively long, dark, poker straight hair
Ages before I befriended hair dye.
Behind oversized pink plastic glasses--
More than half my face obstructed--
Crooked bangs to offset a crooked, toothless smile.
This second grade picture, sitting on a dusty mantle
The beginning of diminished self-esteem and
Ending with it a picturesque childhood


2.
A woman, old, she’s fragile
Gray hair always perfected
Oversized glasses to cover a wrinkled, ungracefully aged face
Pale, weathered, beautiful;
Tattered gray sweater and delicate working hands.
My great-grandmother;
Her mind is failing, but her heart still beats
And her eyes remain the same.