Swimming
In college swim
class we shared the pool
with a class of
elderly women.
I would look at
the wrinkled faces and sagging skin
and imagine each bobbing lady as she once was:
Young and
vibrant, fresh and lovely.
My friend would
laugh at my imaginings.
But now at
middle age,
with my own son
off to college,
I see that the
young person you were
disappears long
before the wrinkles set in,
becoming a
peculiar stranger.
And you begin
to realize
a far more valuable and lasting beauty
as you continue,
treading in the wake.
© 2016 Deborah Therese de Jong
