As I look in the mirror this morning, it strikes me that I’ve been gifted with one face. It’s an interesting face. Recently, my one face has started to look a lot like my mother’s face. That is as it should be. My one face has been called:
Beautiful
Handsome
Pretty
Aw-ight
My one face has been:
Sad
Angry
Closed
Amazed
Once, a young man looked at me across from him on the train and exclaimed to his friends, “That’s a dude, man. That’s a dude.” This surprised me and then it made me nervous. Were they going to challenge me, whip my ass because they thought I was a cross-dressing man? (I mean I know I have big feet and hands and a slight mustache that in those days I didn’t wax, but a man? This body that had birthed two children?)
My one face has felt:
Lovely
Lonely
Sexy
Smart
Out-of-it
Plain
Wise
Old
Naive
Jaded
Exquisite joy
My one face has seen some things that were amazingly beautiful and amazingly terrible. There were times when this face wished it were another face that seemed to have more going for it. (I don’t hardly ever feel this way any more.) Sometimes this face has been the right face at the right time and other times it’s been passed over with barely a glance.
I am pretty happy with this face. I think I’ll keep it!
Happy Birthday, to me. And many more.