A blog by Anjana Sen
I got a fright, I must confess,
As I brushed my teeth this morning.
There you were, in the mirror,
Ma, you popped up without warning.
My greys have merged with yours I see,
My eyes flash the same way too.
The years have smudged my sharp jawline,
And turned me into you.
Folk said how much I looked like you,
I never saw it till just now.
I was ambling down the street today when a man came up to me and said,
‘Looking good, lovely lassie, but what’s that upon your head?’
I reached up then, to touch said head and felt around a while,
The man stood waiting next to me with a chuckle and a smile.
I saw my reflection in a shop window and sure, my head was fine,
And I watched this gent watching me, his smile as big as mine.
‘April Fool’ he yelled out then, ‘fooled ya, didn’t I hen?’
‘It’s June now,’ I stammer back, ‘you’ll have to try again.’
‘You smiled,’ he replied, ‘didn’t you now? That’s all I care about.’
That’s right I thought, I had been so sad, till I heard him come and shout.
His job he said, his only job, was to spread much needed cheer,
And he roamed the streets, up and down, to frighten away all fear.
I love this room, she thinks out loud,
it is the nicest in this house.
The floors are swept, the dusting done,
she pauses to adjust her blouse.
Curtains she had washed earlier,
dried soon in the African sun.
Hung back now with help from the boy
and that was one job done.
Fluttering about in mid-day breeze,
the windows framed in lace.
She adjusts the mirror on the wall
and smiles happily at her face.
Everyone was laughing,
I could see.
Everyone, that is, except me.
I was on a roll, out to troll
the good folk of Glasgow.
With a poker face
and practiced lack of grace
I let insults race
at a furious pace.
Aimed at the centre of the second row.
She takes a last look at the mirror now
and tucks some stray greys into place.
‘There’s nothing much I can do,’ she thinks
about all these lines across my face.
‘Goodluck,’ he calls as she leaves the house
clutching her new leather writing case.
Looking back on her life so far
As the train moves forward, gathering pace.