SHOULD I GO GREY by Paula Doran

To be grey or not to be...

I had a fleeting moment of getting so fed up of dying my roots that I stopped to ponder how it would be to just let go.

I felt quite sad after realizing how attached I had become to this part of my identity and all the layers of meaning I had attached to it and to what it meant to me, as a woman. How much pressure I felt to conform, stay young, keep up my grooming, brighten myself up. I feared becoming invisible, old and discolored.

Still I remain stuck in indecision and fearful of being washed away by grey.

Should I go Grey?

by Paula Doran

Should I go Grey?

Let go of this mask

That says I'm not old

Still up to the task.

Judy Dench, I imagine

Rocky horrors magenta

Wear those roots proud

No chemical venture.

Salt and pepper curls,

Long, medium, short?

Not the beauty I'd imagined

Red lippy? Just a thought!

Harder to accept

than imagine this crown

More to consider

Feeling let down.

Not quite ready

to rise and grow free

But still sadly bound

to delusional reality.

Paula Doran: “I am a married mum of 3 boys aged 17, 8 and 9 months old. My husband is David, a good, good man. I love my family dearly. I consider myself a seeker of knowledge, discovering new and wonderful things about life every day. I am on maternity leave at the moment but when in work I practice as a counsellor, supporting others to move toward healing themselves after sexual trauma and through the judicial process. I love my work as a counsellor and poetry, and writing song lyrics, is one way in which I practice self-care. My husband plays the guitar too and sometimes we get to put those lyrics to some music and have created, what I consider great music together.”

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!

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