Sucummbing Poem by Lonnie Hicks

Today I lost my allure;

it left me on 42 avenue

where I stood

my two breasts i surmised

had sucummbed another inch to gravity

and this had been noticed by the hard hats

who measure such things.

and the lines that lined my face advanced another millimeter

now visible for them to see

where such sensiitivity exists

to every crease and furrow

in us women

that we can hear stage-whispers

from sidewalk auidences of young men that

say 'who is the old broad'

as we wrangle our younger self- image

and bring it to the fore and silently

self-whisper 'who are they talking about':

but you know its you and you have

left the realm of hot and young

and merged into the realm of somebody's mother.

But I will not remain in that frozen world.

I will mount the fight to retard the advancing lines

and reassert that I still have a young girl beaming

inside.

But they demur and I am exiled from the young enclave

to that of mom's and hotness retired.

I grieve.