haibun (Aging)

Aging

The trips to the beauty shop to cover the gray are growing too frequent for my purse. Accessorize or not accessorize, that is the question. Purple was my favorite color till I read the book "When I grow old I'll wear purple." I think Sensodyne toothpaste eases the discomfort of receding gums, just a guess. When I look in the mirror, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. But at least my hearing isn't quite as bad as really old people.
 

each season
blossoms in accord
with schedule

I have to stretch to see the positives, but there are a few: I've learned to pause and smell the roses; the sky unfurls in ribbons of azure. But if it's grey, so what! It can't erase my joy. When I stroke a baby's cheek or catch the scent of a Johnson's powdered bottom, I am reconnected to the joys of motherhood. Time is no longer a cheap commodity to be rifled through or wasted, so I spend every day awakening to the laughter of good memories and the taste of sweet surrender.
 

the mighty oak tree
is naked in the winter
until spring arrives