Tear off the mask,
your face is glorious!
~Rumi
Stuck a flutter
those eyes north of your smile
seek a need so deep
your faux face mates a dis-
connect squeaked clean in mirrors.
Beneath your vain visage,
pieced together with luminescent
pigeon feed,
a real person dwells.
Fearing laughter’s cracks
you survey your composure
reporting aging’s reproach.
(Some butterflies live less than a month.)
Treat yourself to natural hair color,
schedule a meeting
where your real face sees the world.
Before you crack,
let it be.
Brenda Warren 2014
Visit The Sunday Whirl
undercaws 
Well done, Brenda! I admit to still coloring my hair. That made me think of how courageous it would be, to not tamper with whatever you were given.
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I like this, Brenda. It is hard to show the world who we really are. I still colour my hair mainly because of my profession. The people here tend to be a bit pretentious. I am looking forward to retirement, lol.
Pamela
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I would love to see that luminescent pigeon feed! 😉
Wordle Grotesqueries
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I suppose most of us wear a mask of some sort..i love how you snuck the butterfly in..very illuminating
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It is what is inside that counts.
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‘your faux face mates a dis-
connect squeaked clean in mirrors.’ ~ cool phrase.
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Fearing laughter’s cracks
you survey your composure
reporting aging’s reproach.
True enough. Aging can stage some stress and strains. But experience can be a stabilizing factor though! Great write Brenda!
Hank
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“Before you crack,
let it be.”
Boy, is that sage advice.
Love the opening stanza.
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I’m drawn to people who show their real face and hair color. Yes, yes, yes, before you crack, let it be. 🙂
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Oh. I color my hair.. (and I’m a man) .. though most men in my age don’t even have hair… but still to show who you are is important…
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I color my hair, too… What can I say? I like the idea of natural with a twist!… ha!
Brenda: good poem. You made us all question our hair and the face we show to the world.
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My sister’s hair started going gray at seventeen, We haven’t seen her ‘real’ color since then. But unlike your character, she wears a welcoming smile, asking questions about everyone’s well-being, and promptly sets about making something to eat and serving refreshments. And somehow misses very little of the conversation swirling around her. I think your words reminded me of someone I didn’t want to think about, so my comment is a bit tangental, at best. Sorry,
Elizabeth
http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/finding-self-again/
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Don’t apologize, Elizabeth. Someone I don’t always want to think about, but see often was the inspiration for this piece. She’s young, though, and has no gray hair.
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My real face and hair colour have seen the world for 20 + years!
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You are beautiful, Viv. I used make-up in middle school, but am not proficient in its use. About 8 years ago, I quit coloring my hair…it grays slowly, but more popped through recently.
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Ugly old bat, me, but I do like the hair now it’s white all over. It was the pepper and salt stage that made me go in for colouring it for a while.
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