Age and activism

Please read this article by talented and passionate Marla Rose. My personal note: I think a lot of us have the idea of an activist being a young, unhappy, or somehow unadapted person to society, the typical young hippies, and troublemakers. I grew up as a “regular," content middle class person, but as I aged and discovered many of the social injustices that I was not aware of, like animal agriculture; I found out that middle-aged people like me, working professionals, homemakers, specialists, and plenty of ‘regular” every-day people who are over 40 years old are eager to change the world. I became a vegan for justice for animals and our planet at age 44, and an animal rights activist at age 45. The link again The Turn of a Phase: How Middle Aged (and Older) People are Redefining Aging  and Activism, by Marla Rose.

aging

Monday morning
woke up
fatigued already
daily-early bathroom-mirror
check up

three more little gray hairs
on my left temple
from last night to this morning
and on my hair so naturally dark
show these gray attempts of
maturity as flashy displays

and every time
I put some lip stick on
lately
little lines of deeper color
get trapped
on the small wrinkles
that are growing deeper
around my mouth

ahhh, the magic of aging
one’s body feels so different
after almost 40 years of use and misuse

surely I haven’t find my user’s manuals
‘cause aches and pains on this body
and little twitches keep on flourishing
like a menace
unstoppable as
the trace of time is



but i am glad to see
that the deepest marks on my face
are those lines one draws while smiling
around the mouth
around the eyes but
those are good-earned
proud-to-wear wrinkles

time time time
and i wonder how i will look
at age 80
if i make it

probably a smiling, short
and little chubby
white-haired with a bun
on the top of the head
funny-looking mexican old lady