Unprepared
months later
got a letter
from the book
store
telling me
sorry
but
couldn’t
find
a copy
of Ephron’s
work
not Sleepless in Seattle
or You’ve Got Mail
or Julie and Julia
but the book she wrote
about her neck
and how she felt bad about it
standing at the helpdesk
on a day I turned 40-something
the young girl
typed in the long title …
whilst trying not to look at my neck
and I was young
like her
20 years ago
when the furthest thing
was this
how nothing prepares you
for this
not the weeds of gray hair
not the relentless wrinkles
not the climbing cellulite
not the tight inner tube
not the field of freckles
not the aches
not the pain
no, nothing
quite
on the day
you look in the mirror
and see
some-
thing
you never thought about
worried about
and I wanna tell 20
SPF
not just your mask
but everything below it
especially your neeeeeeeeeeeeck
‘cause someday
you’ll be a desperate fool
reaching for something
anything
maybe even a book
to help you through
TL