Silver

In the well-worn blue veins
of hardworking hands,
what begins to show up…

Is a head held high in courage,
yet the folds of her neck
spill out that secret.

Kohl-edged lids hold up weary lashes
Cleverly covering up
many-a- sleepless story.

The worry- bag balances
from one shoulder to the other,
fishing out a pair of glasses,
to spell it out correctly.

Twenty projects of youth,
Thirty loads of motherhood,
Forty winks of lists to do.

One manic panic morning,
the rear view mirror displays
all the roads taken till half of a life.

From the creased corner of the eye,
next to the forced smile,
I see her wave back.

She assures with a sharp eyed spark,

I am with you, within you - - -
Your younger, brighter, quicker self.

#aging #youngerself #fortyplus #womanoverforty #greyhairgreenmind #amairathelittlewoman

Also tried the Marathi version of the same poem ---

(This has been manually typed in Marathi language as well and it is not an auto translation.)

 

सोबत वयाची

कामसू हातांवरच्या निळ्या रेषांमध्ये दिसून येते.

डोळ्याखाली ओघळलेल्या काजळाने ती लपवते...

लिहिलेल्या शब्दांचा खरा अर्थ समजून घेण्यासाठी, 

गडबडीत चष्मा शोधत राहते...

एका खांद्यावरून दुसऱ्यावर ओझं ढकलताना, 

अलगद हसणार्‍या ओठांभोवती घड्या करून बसते... 

वीस तरुणपणीच्या गोष्टी, 

तीस मुलांबरोबरच्या, 

तर चाळीस करायच्या राहिलेल्या!

अर्ध्या आयुष्यापर्यंत तुझ्यासोबत मी राहिले,

आरशाच्या मागून मला शांतपणे म्हणत राहते ---

तरुणपणीची मीच!

 - नताशा बेडेकर