This is my Slice of Life for Two Writing Teachers, AND my Poetry Friday offering at Irene Latham's blog. Click on either link to read more Slices or some Poetry. Some bloggers others will also be doing double duty today, I'm sure!
So this is just the best day in the whole world to have a Friday! Until next week - enjoy! I am going to! Yippee!
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| Photo from: http://hwitblogg.blogspot.com/2010/11/allhelgona.html |
Melted
The flame burns hot, stretching,
Its black wick, an island
In a waxy sea that
Pushes its banks
Overflowing
Dripping
Down
To
Ripple.
Dripples
Droop down
Candle’s skin;
Spire shrinking
To join the puddle of
Candle bowels in the bobeche.
By Donna JT Smith, 2016, all rights reserved
I’ll bet you thought this poem was about a lit candlestick burning down. The photo may have given it away.
It is.
And it isn’t.
It’s about me. (Isn't everything?)
I have been joking lately about being careful not to go tripping over my own skin as I lose weight, and likening my new body to a candle that’s dripping. It isn’t THAT bad, but I have to come to grips with the fact that as I lose weight in my 60’s, the skin is not going to be as joyfully rebounding as it was when I was in my 30’s (oh, to have that body again).
The fact of the matter is, I was going to have wrinkles and sags everywhere anyway at this age, whether I had been heavy or not! But when you have a nice fat layer, sometimes that wrinkling and sagging isn’t as evident for a bit longer.
As I lose more weight, I'm feeling a little like I did when I got my cataracts removed and nice shiny new lenses inserted… oooh, my face suddenly became wrinkly, and, hey, where did that beard come from? I just have to get used to the "new" me that I see.
I wouldn’t trade the weight loss and the eyesight gain for all those wrinkles and weirdness of getting old, though. I need to see each of the ugly moles as beauty spots created by something in my life’s story.
And I wouldn’t change my story for the world.
Dripping down to ripple
ReplyDeleteupon the open seas,
the breeze catches me
thinking of something else
entirely, each thought falling
into every wave, calling me, I'll save
the rest for later.
--Kevin, lifting a line from your wonderful poem (and poem shape) for a short comment.
Thanks for your Lifted Line poem! Love it!
DeleteI'm melting...I thought you were going to write about spring. Congrats on the weight loss. That's a tough thing to do. Takes dedication. I pulled my hair back yesterday. While I received compliments about the new look, when I looked in the mirror, all I could see was my wrinkly chin. We are so self-critical, aren't we?
ReplyDeleteI wondered if it sounded too much like the witch in Wizard of Oz!
DeleteDripples! What a fabulous word! Your post makes me think of a Judge Judy episode I saw once while waiting for my car at an oil change place. She was talking about getting older, how each day there was something new to see in the mirror. One could lament, but like you, I think it's something to celebrate! Congratulations on your weight loss. Such a tough thing, and you're doing it! xo
ReplyDeleteRipples made dripples just tipple off my tongue.
DeleteThat was amazing - so many perfectly described particulars about candles and melting.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was a fun write.
DeleteIndeed, my "dripples droop" too, Donna, and as Irene wrote, something new to see in the mirror each day! Love how you connected the new you to a candle burning. Very clever.
ReplyDeleteI'm seriously just hoping I don't have to find some clothes with pockets to put the extra skin in! Ha! But seriously...
DeleteDonna,
ReplyDeleteI loved the growth of your last line "Candle bowels in the bobeche." Thank you for rejoicing in the changes. Congrats on the weight loss. You are an inspiration.
Thanks, Joy! I just hope I don't get discouraged when I get done and I'm toting too much skin in dripples! I'll still be healthier - so, oh, well! That's how it is!
DeleteBobeche - what a fun word! Am I the only one who didn't know it? Congrats on your weight loss journey - enjoy every new discovery along the way.
ReplyDeleteI was waiting for someone to mention that. I'd never heard of "bobeche" until I finished the poem. At first I'd used bowl - to go with bowels. I figured it probably wasn't called that, and that there must be a technical name for it. So I looked it up - "bobeche" a fun new word, and still good for alliteration! I love learning new stuff!
DeleteI thought your poem was about being so drained at this time of year...but it was a poem about getting healthier! I love it. I also love that you are embracing your "graceful aging". Every time I look in the mirror I have to remind myself that each wrinkle earns me a tiny bit more experience and respect. I hate it and love it...and can do NOTHING about it! Except the beard, the beard must be dealt with!!...thanks for the laugh.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a younger teacher, I once had a mom come in to work with my first graders. One of them looked closely at the mother's face and then asked her if she shaved! Since then I've always been paranoid about kids looking too closely at anything! They don't miss much, so yes, the beard has to go! Don't need the grandson wondering if I'm really grampie!
DeleteDonna, a stroke of genius you had today with your candle melting poem that really is about you. Aging is something to write about with humor so thank you for this poem. My husband had lapband surgery and has lost 105 pounds in almost 2 years. We are proud of him. The sag is annoying but he is trying to firm up some. It's a process. Best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to your husband! And to you for giving him the support in his journey.
DeleteBravo, Donna, for this clever poem and for your weight loss. I love your attitude about embracing your drooping "dripples." How else would you have come up with such a fabulous word!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I feel great, even with dripples!
DeleteI love that you made up a word and then surprised me again at the end with that new word (that I had to look up)! Great word choices and congrats on getting healthier!
ReplyDeleteI always love learning new words - and making some up as I go... some of the made up words should be real, I think.
DeleteI love the visual aspect of this!
ReplyDeleteThank you for a new word -- bobeche! I love the way you celebrate your body-as-bobeche which holds onto all the sags and wrinkles of aging and weight loss! And I'll add my three cheers to your weight loss and honest joyful appraisal of the pros and cons thereof!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful layered post with words to learn, thoughts to ponder and word play to enjoy. Your connection of the melting candle to your recent weight loss is brilliant! I happened to write about aging today as well, though my focus was on the arrival of facial hair. I love this line: "I need to see each of the ugly moles as beauty spots created by something in my life’s story." I'm working on embracing that healthy attitude. Congrats on your weight loss and on a beautifully crafted poem and slice!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful layered post with words to learn, thoughts to ponder and word play to enjoy. Your connection of the melting candle to your recent weight loss is brilliant! I happened to write about aging today as well, though my focus was on the arrival of facial hair. I love this line: "I need to see each of the ugly moles as beauty spots created by something in my life’s story." I'm working on embracing that healthy attitude. Congrats on your weight loss and on a beautifully crafted poem and slice!
ReplyDelete