Shedding the Youthful Lover
I found an empty snakeskin today in the corner of my garden.
My husband wouldn’t go near it.
But I was fascinated, not afraid;
the snake was far from here, I knew,
having been set free.
How quick and painless
the transformation for a cold-blooded beast,
how much longer for those of us with warmer hearts.
We need three whole weeks
just to replace an eyelash we’ve cried away,
a full month for a stomach lining to turn over,
six years for all the cells to completely regenerate themselves.
For decades I’ve wondered
on summer afternoons
on moonlit nights
how long it will take to expel you.
It’s been a lifetime
and still
you are here.
By now every inch of my body
must have long since changed.
In what secret part of me are you living?
In what unseen fiber of my being
do you still hide?
Beverly Monestier
