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My Body Lies

By Charlotte Wald
Copyright 2000 Charlotte Wald
A poem about Charlotte's body and spirit being at odds.
 
Who is that in my body?
Is it the freckle-faced kid
With curly red hair
Playing hopscotch on the sidewalks of the Bronx?
 
Is it the gawky teenager
Sprouting breasts and acting grown up
Flirting with the boys
At Orchard Beach?
 
And how about that college girl
Ready to claim her niche in the world?
Full of piss and vinegar
And letting everyone know it.
 
Then there was the wife, the mother, now grandmother
Who lived in this body suit
Changing with the years
Losing the battle with gravity.
 
But this in not my body
No, not one of my choosing
This one is old and sagging
Skin wrinkled, teeth missing.
 
My body has deserted me.
It is my spirit I claim
Still full of wonder and awe
Still full of piss and vinegar.
 
So when I pass a mirror
And frown at this body I see
It is my spirit
That smiles back at me.