Resolutions

This year, I will dance in public

laugh out loud, no matter if no one

joins me, just because I can

take time for getting to know some

new person, even if we never become

lovers, because you said it was okay

for me to do more than look

at those lovely ladies we see on our

rides into the world, and I said

I wanted another girlfriend

you gave me rules and I agreed

so now I’m looking

and I will, I will, I will grab beauty

by her delicate waist and waltz into

each day, grateful for the scars in

the mirror that say, “you survived, kid,

now go out and get’em.”

James Stansberry is a Northwest slam poet/writer/activist/survivor.

Mirror photo by clipartkid.com

SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).

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