beauty ways
I said, “Twenty years ago,
I was beautiful.”
She (my friend) said:
“What are you talking about?
You’re beautiful NOW.”
She (my other friend)
Gave me a crystal heart
For Christmas
Treated with gold
Pinkish, glowing, lovely
She said, “It reminds me
Of your face.”
She (my other friend)
Showed me a chapter
Called “Feminine Radiance”
From a book she was reading
She said, “This is
About you.”
I wonder why it is
Women see me
In beauty ways
My fear of mortality
Is reflected in
The eyes of men
Through a haze
Of projection and rejection
My heart heals