Poems

THE UNINVITED GUEST

by

MARIE MULVEY-ROBERTS

I notice you most in the dark
No manners, barging in
Like opening the door of an oven
Though always tropically radiant.
Now you can save on fuel bills
You told me with a smirk.
But I found you to be
A most impolite bedfellow.

I didn’t invite this intruder
Smasher of rhythms
Jolter of sleep
You kept your distance until now,
Keeping company with old women
Who gradually got younger,
Until they reached my age.

Your presence registers an absence
The pause in the meno
And, one day, you too will be gone
To plague someone else
And open that oven door
To a new beginning.

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Writing Menopause: An Anthology of Fiction, Poetry and Creative Nonfiction