Here’s another one from Alicia’s pile of words. She’s no spring chicken anymore, let’s face it, and she’s not taking it all that well. I don’t think she’ll ever understand that men of a certain age feel invisible sometimes, too.

*

You are looking at me

And you see

Me looking back

Through a little crack

In my imperfection

Hints of faded beauty

Drift in your direction

And after brief inspection

Your duty as a man

Is to put the picture back together

If you can

To reassemble pieces

That resemble a woman

But if you can’t

You shan’t

Waste a thought

And the risk of being caught

By that mirage in your head

And instead

Turn away

To stay

In the shadows

Of  your virility

And let me fade

To  invisibility

*