walking to the doctor

i am walking to the doctor
for our annual discussion
of my body
and the way that it grows
older

heat waves on the sidewalk
make everyone shimmer
melt away our imperfections--
see them gleaming in the gutter
     with leaves that fell
     in yesterday's storm

mary in the waiting room
has never been an artist
so she tells me. but
she ballroom danced

back when the big bands
came around oh,
she loved to dance
loved that warm, round sound
it melts away inhibitions--
see them run like the water
     she used to drink
     from the part-time creek
     in the forest behind
     her childhood home
     it was right here--
     right here, you know!--
     but it was so many too many
     years and years ago.

bell tower on the church
rings out the gift of persecution
we smile about our sorrows,
some real, some imagined.
it's a long time yet before you're old,
mary says.

we are young;
we are young.
after all we have endured
we have earned the right
to be young.