there never was a day
a defining moment
when youth was here
and gone in an instant
no special effect
that poured pounds
over my hated thinness
no gasps
no amazement
that one second
i had hair
and then had none

gradually
like boiling a frog
time and gravity
have done their damage
and i confess
i have not been
a good resistance fighter

still
ask the children
how old
how old
how old
and they know
i am twenty nine
strong
and handsome

it is how i feel
how i see myself
in the absence of a mirror
just as i see you
twenty nine
blonde
and beautiful
air-brushed by years
of pain and love together
my personal venus
on a half-shell
making the half-hell
of daily life
worth something more