How strange to look at my image
And see the telltale signs of age
More gray hair, more new wrinkles
Life's book has turned the page.



How I feel a deep sadness
To see my girlhood gone. 
Middle age has taken over
Leaving me alone to face the dawn.



I have lived through love affairs
Some unfair - some not too kind.
Resisting from here on 
With no desire to again be entwined.



My future sees my children
Grown up as young men.
My written words mean more now than ever 
And truer than any lover has been.



Of all the passions I have lived 
Now all my secrets I can voice
Of being a wife, mother, and lover 
Written in poetry of my choice. 



After the men I have loved
And the dreams I once believed
I kept my one precious possession 
The freedom to be me.



©Carol Barton 
2004
Used With Permission
All Rights Reserved By Author
Website
Mail