Out walking

I ask myself

How do I look?

Aging white woman

short brown hair

sticking out

in odd directions

average height

casual dress, no makeup

body on the sturdy side

but I carry my years well

still functional

still smiling

and still mothering

endless children

 

But today

looking out

from inside my eyes

at the rainy hills

and the wet road

and the gentle people

it strikes me

It’s not how I look

that is important.

It’s that I look,

and how I do that looking.

That is the Fact

and the Act

that is Sacred and

Most Wonderful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not how I look

 

Out walking

I ask myself

How do I look?

Aging white woman

short brown hair

sticking out

in odd directions

average height

casual dress, no makeup

body on the sturdy side

but I carry my years well

still functional

still smiling

and still mothering

endless children

 

 

 

But today

looking out

from inside my eyes

at the rainy hills

and the wet road

and the gentle people

it strikes me

It’s not how I look

that is important.

It’s that I look,

and how I do that looking.

That is the Fact

and the Act

that is Sacred and

Most Wonderful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not how I look

Trudi Lee Richards

Trudi Lee Richards, a poet-bard of Silo’s Message, is the author of "Confessions of Olivia"; "On Wings of Intent, a biography of Silo"; "Soft Brushes with Death"; and "Experiences on the Threshold." Exactly two of her poems have ever been published: "Fairies of the Forest," which appeared in the Palo Alto Times "Youth Said It" column in 1957, and "The Great 21st Century Poemic," which appeared in the April 2021 edition of Global Poemic (globalpoemic.wordpress.com). She also edited and published the independent San Francisco newspaper "Human Future" from 1989-1997, and before that co-founded "La Mamelle," a '70s San Francisco arts publication. A graduate of Stanford University, she helped raise several humans from infancy, and is now enjoying their friendship. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon.