MIDDLE AGED WOMEN

I remember middle aged women
With slightly sagging skin around their upper arms;
Loosen yet while roostered at their necks,
Telling anyone who cared to listen
That the sand reflected all the rays that broiled us
on the beach...
They pulled their short hair back with a determined welted palm
As they slipped this while rubber bathing caps on
Yanked across their foreheads into place
While they strapped them snugly at the checks,
Looking like early newsreels of women in Olympics
With the body walk of men...
They stood close to their blankets
Dripping in a pose when returning from their swim,
Allowing us a glimpse of women
Who didn't fuss with children
Or with men who asked for everything-
No one lit their cigarettes
And no one thought to try;
Or lotioned them in any way
Or towelled them dry -
Or thought their middle age
As less attractive
In ways we do today.

Ken Siegelman, Brooklyn Poet Laureate