Penstrokes _

               Award-winning Prose! 

           You're Forty Now !

You have finally arrived.

   You've reached the pinnacle

       of womanhood.

You can no longer profess not to

  know,

           or that

 you should

  have known better

     No more lame excuses.

        No more

"I should have done that",

  "I wish I had",

 or "I'll do it tomorrow".

Procrastination will reach a      

     new art form.

Now you'll find yourself,

    more often than not,

 wishing you could lose

  that extra ten pounds,

which has now become fifteen.

 Picturing yourself once again the

 svelte bride you once were.  

That is,

      before the children,

  before the heartaches,

    before reality set in.

You'll find yourself

 daydreaming of a make-believe

 existence and wishing

more and more

  it weren't make believe at all.

But then,

  because you are who you are

you'll shake yourself off,

     rise above it,  

           and smile. 

You'll look around 

  you and take in all the

 wonderment

  that surrounds you,

of all you've created

       and accomplished.

  You'll gaze upon

 the bounteous treasures

       borne of your love.

     Your heart will rebound

with joy and gratitude

  that you have been so blessed.

You'll look upon your mate,

 the man you've shared

  your bed,

your heart,

  your disappointment

 The man you've argued with,

 disagreed with,

and made up with,

      And again,

 for a split second or so,

you'll wonder,

        just to yourself,

"Is this what love is all  about?"

 But then you remember

   the boy in him,

what you like most in him.

 You'll recall his shy awkwardness

 that was so charming in the

     beginning.

     The way

     he picked at his food,

 mis-buttoned his shirt,

 and how

his clothes seemed never to match

until you came

       into his life.

 You'll smile to yourself,

 in that guileless womanly way,

as you recall how he pursued you,

 how you'd hold one another

  for hours that seemed

         to become days

     And you'll yearn

 for the newness yet once again.

             You'll smile

  that womanly smile

   because you know

     now

you can have whatever

   you choose for yourself.

You can even turn back time

   and become

      that bride again

      Only this time,

 it'll be better

  because you are so much         

    wiser,

 so much more confident, 

  and so much more

beautiful...

For now you are a                       

   Woman.

Kiss yesterday good-bye

and reach for tomorrow,

    for surely

 the sun will shine.

     You are forty now

      truly a Woman

          and

    your life is just

            beginning.

© Norma Sherry 1998

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Copyright © 2001 Norma Sherry