Turning 52 in a language other than my own
I’m practising birthday in Slovak
and Hungarian – narodeniny, születésnap –
it’s much more of a celebration this way,
a dance that involves my whole mouth.
The weather report is
clouds giving way to sun
My mid-life (hair) crisis is over;
four colours in as many days
only to end (happily) where I started,
an existentialist freewheeling mess.
I like my new apron so much
I’m tempted to wear it
to the restaurant but won’t.
Maybe when I turn 62 ?
I take a quiz and am told
my spirit animal is
the butterfly,
the hummingbird,
or the owl
which could explain the itch
between my shoulder blades,
why my long life feels like
a collage
of many shorter ones
and why no one seems to notice
when I fly over the bridge
as the clouds give way
to the rising sun …
bridgeguardblog 