First Former
I have shaved today. Having grown my first beard, I have now shaved my first beard.
It has been six months or seven months, since I decided to see what it looked like to be an old man.
I will admit to feeling wiser, though growing dimmer each day. And Garnering an air of—dare I say... dignity?
In my imagination, when I started the beard, my face was youthful and full, buoyant. I thought the beard made me look old, stern, serious— but now that I have shaved it and my face is revealed again, I see weathering in the mirror that I do not recall. Peaks and valleys when I smile like the topo maps I so dearly love.
No gray hair, but the weight of time beginning to pull at once full cheeks.
I will watch in the coming days to see if my smile was only hidden beneath the bush, or if it too is gone.
#poetry #confession #storytelling #write #100daystooffload