Evening Ballet
we begin our dance
you brush, I wash my face
you floss, I brush
and so on until we finish,
the last pirouette into the bed
this choreography
designed and rewritten
over four decades
a practiced and perfected
pas de deux
tonight I flounder
for my partner I have
a mere reflection
from an unreliable mirror
showing an old woman
she cannot be truth
for I am nineteen –
always nineteen in your eyes –
as you are twenty in mine
at least, until I closed them
Joann Grisetti has been writing for 45 years. She is a retired teacher from Florida. She receives encouragement from her daughter and has recently enrolled in a creative writing workshop. She is a member of Poetry Soup. You can read more of her poetry there.
Sure enjoyed this wonderful poem so well written. I can so relate as I was nineteen and my sweetheart 20 when we were married. Thank you for sharing a delightful poem and your special talent.
ReplyDeleteLove, Charlene
Expressive poetry - I was 18, he was 20 when married. Can't believe that was 55 years ago. I guess that is why I am still dreaming of him today, never truly got over our divorce after 25 years - just moved on so to speak! Amazing how someone elses words can bring back one own memories...
ReplyDeleteRhoda Galgiani
Hi, Joann, enjoyed your cute poem and how you define the routines of familiarity...... playful and enjoyable to read yet with a bit of sentimental recall in expressing a thought... Sheri
ReplyDeleteDear Joanna,
ReplyDeleteWhen couples are together for a long time, the evening rituals can surely be compared to a "pas de deux." The first portion of the poem made me smile. Then when you described the old woman looking back at you in the mirror, I realized I am not alone. I don't use mirrors very often for the obvious reasons, but when I do, I see my mother or my grandmother looking back at me. Amazing irony in a very well composed verse. Best wishes always, Carolyn
Thank you, Christine Tate, for the following comment--
ReplyDeleteHi Joann, I think your poem is wonderful! Isn't it amazing how youthful we feel until we look too closely in a mirror? Great message here about the "true" test of love, & how it should run deeper than the outward appearance as the years pass. I enjoyed reading your poem! ~Chris
Thank you, Isha Wagner, for this comment--
ReplyDeleteJust to say Joann Grisetti's words in Evening Ballet superbly put together showing well how we just don't believe we can be old and after all it's only other people who grow old, is it not?! The inherent sadness in life shows up cleverly and yet we march on to our fate inexorably, throwing kisses to the past. We are all rather strange methinks. Congrats to Joann.
Regards
Isha Wagner
Dear Joann -
ReplyDeleteReading your Evening Ballet l was so happy and then the weeping came. It is the story of love and its aging right before us, still seeing the 19 and 20 year old in each other's eyes. How fast the dance went and suddenly I am old and the ballet seems just a dream. This is one of most special poems I have ever read, my friend, and I will read it again. It goes to my favorites page into the pages of the book of my heart.
xxx's ooo's
Kathy
Love the "Evening Ballet," Joann. It is nicely descriptive; choreographed nicely. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete-Maurice J. Reynolds, Owner / Editor
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