WHEN WE WERE YOUNG THINGS
When we were angels
swimming in the stars,
we were but boy toys
hanging in the bars
When we were divas
dressed in les Diors,
we were with shlumps who
didn’t open doors
(Bridge)
Looking glass, tell me
When did the view change
Why not forever young
Rather than cue change
When we were sirens
singing from the cliffs
we were a jumble of
“whens” and “whys” and “ifs”
(Bridge)
Looking glass, tell me
When did the view change
Why not forever young
Rather than cue change
When we were young things
slinking down the street
we’d ne’er imagine
that ourselves we’d meet
Now we were older
greyer each season
Now we are bolder
We’ve found our reason
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
We were asked, at Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, to write a song… a chanson, a lieder, anything that might be set to music. This is a slow waltz with a pause after the bridge (at “cue change”). Songwriting has long been my business, so I guess I’d better pen the tune now! Also “in the margins” at my poetic concert hall, Poets United. Peace, Amy
THE WAY I’M GOING GREY
Grey
springs up
livens hair
God’s free highlights
upon this crone’s crown
Silver threads, valued so,
weaving their way farther up
from hairline to thatched brown fields
Growing stronger, a widening way
Accentuates mature women’s beauty
Most women bend to social demands
Face the fact, youthfulness attracts
Yet intact my grey stays, quite
stubborn am I, one of
few women I know
who find value
climbing the
shakra
tree
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For Imaginary Garden With Real Toads Open Link Monday, a double etheree about aging and being OK with it. I stopped coloring my hair years before I started my grey streak, which has also peppered my hair. I vowed to never be a “tragically blonde crone.” In a society where women “of a certain age” are not valued for their wisdom and experience, I don’t care if people see me as an old lady. Hey, I earned every grey hair – and that goes for my wrinkles, too! This picture was taken in honor of GLBTQ Pride Day, and our church played Lady Gaga today. Really! Peace, Amy
