Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.
He said, "You used to be pretty."
The other guy said, "You used to be fine."
Another one said, "I used to want to go out with you."
And another told me, "I wish I had met you 20 years ago."
In high school, I remember Jim Tourje saying
"Kirsten, you won't be able to rely on your looks forever."
I remember having no idea what he was talking about.
Was he saying I was pretty?
When I was younger, I did not see the perks
It wasn't until those privileges were pulled
That I saw how ageism turns friends to jerks.
If you asked me if I am pretty
I would say yes, now more than ever
But apparently that is not the public opinion!
The lines, the wrinkles, the time and age
Are interesting to me.
And pretty never meant to me what it does
To others anyway.
I have always fallen soul first
For friends and lovers
Looks depend on my mind
Not my eyes
So I hear I used to be pretty
I hear I used to make men hot
But 45 years into it all
And I am still not sure what "pretty" bought.
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.