A Little Too Much, A Little Too Often ( A Poem About Aging Gracefully)

I know this is a departure from the things I usually write, because obviously, this is a party blog. However, as i was brushing my teeth tonight I thought about aging gracefully. I thought about what it really meant, and how a gracefully aged person should/must look like.

So here is a poem presumably written by the 70 year old version of my self.

A Little Too Much, A Little Too Often

A Poem About Aging Gracefully

Aging gracefully without a scar, a wrinkle, or a flaw is akin to a clock that only tells time for it’s self.

Without a blemish or a fault, it is used by many as the measure of timeless beauty

A little too much, a little too often.

But to age with grace by the measure of the skin is not the same as to age with grace by the measure of the soul.

Although different like the sun and the moon, these two standards often merge indiscernibly in man’s psyche

A little too much, a little too often.

And I have stared in the mirror and realized that my body holds marks, not of battle scars, but of memories worth keeping.

Filled with beauty and pride, I have contemplated my life through these so-called flaws

A little too much, a little too often.

I look in the mirror and I find parallel marks on my forehead.

These folds on my skin remind me that I thought about you, studied you, focused on you

A little too much, a little too often.

I stare at myself staring back at me and I see wrinkles around my mouth.

They remind me that I spoke kind words to you, laughed with you, and smiled because of you

A little too much, a little too often.

I look down at my reflection and see my scarred and blemished hands.

They remind me that I held you, caressed you, and worked for you

A little too much, a little too often.

I look in the mirror and I see to my delight the corns and calluses on my feet.

They remind me that I walked with you, I was beside you, I was with you every step of the way.

A little too much, a little too often.

This image of me across a pane of glass reminds me about aging with grace and beauty.
It reminds me that I have achieved it because I have lived my life not for myself but for another, for the other, for you

A little too much, a little too often.