Once A Jaunty Poem by Folayemi Akande

I'm feisty, hoary, with no child to own

I'm rusty, I'm vain, my hair grays have grown

Furrowed and galled, beau and power is lost

My drapes, my shapes, contrast the mirror's thought

My womb is rich but barren comes a child

Sheepish and winsome, my tongue is als' mild

I've sneered as brier, I know my deeds are wrong

But then I was lass, beauty, young and strong

As the jade and sun, so was I possessed

To my beau and riches, as if obssessed

Think of me sweet and notch, term not as witch

Prattle not, not of me, that's the prophet's preach

I have marred and I know, tart mem'ries hunt

The unbrage of my past now howls, not brunt.