
Sharon Lopez Mooney
Poet & Interfaith Chaplain

Is every kitchen sink under a window?
Washing dinner dishes
in scalding water
i see strong faces
of people i love
flash in car lights
on the window
but i who can remember
what they wore or said
cannot recall my own look
i see my reflection
looking back at
me
digging for knives
picking at burnt food
getting lost
in stuck spots
i am surprised i like
my image
i look my age
Some days I’m older
some days uglier
but tonight my reflection
is quite good looking
not soft
not pretty
dishes bump
muffled liquid sounds
i reach up
pull my skin
toward hairline
remembering
when i looked like that
soft textures
no lines not worn
i let go
my flesh falls back
i come home to my time
my place
i am my age
Sharon Mooney, “Is Every Kitchen Sink Under a Window?”, from Women and Aging, an anthology by women, ed. Alexander, Jo, [et al], 1986, CALYX Inc, Corvallis OR, pp.108-9.