Dawn-pink flush –
footprint overlaid;
innocence imprinted
by living.
Question:
does the marking mar
or make unique
the petal?
Are the crows feet
to be chased away?
Or do they read more truly
than your flawless masks?
Time is not the enemy
nor age the oppressor.
I create myself in mine own image
– a sculpting of the sould
chiseled by laughter and tears,
hopes, fears, giving or taking.
It is of my making.
(1983, age 24)