The Face In The Mirror Poem by Daleen Enslinstrydom

I have known you all of my life
and when I look back
I see your childhood face
with you long blonde hair and freckles
and hope caught up in your whole being.

I remember you as a teenager
when you experimented with your first make-up
and I do recall when you became a mother
and there was radiance about you.

I have known you all of my life
and you have changed a lot
and there are times
that I do not even recognize you

as life and the cares of it
has run out like sand in a hourglass
and the lines around your eyes
came from laughter
as you used to smile a lot

but now your mouth
are almost rundown
and the lines are pinned down
with the pen of life
from the time
when grief did struck you hard
and loneliness took an own toll.

Your eyes used to sparkle like amber
in the face of a freckled young child
but these days there is a frown between them
and they do not light up anymore.

Your curly blonde hair used to be stubborn
and difficult to keep in place
but now the grey leaps through
between the coloured hair
and I do wander
what have happened to you?

You had a kind of innocence
and you do still wear your make-up perfectly
with every hair in its place
and nobody can really see
what I do see every morning
and you have lost your hope
and I do know the truth
as I am you.