Linda Conroy
Recognition
He gazes in the mirror watching lines
appear on the face he's always known.
Time slows, turns inward, in a shrinking
of the warmth that made him smile.
We all have times that break us,
breathe our fear into the silent air
that lifts the heads of buttercups to nod
in recognition of our need to pause.
He moans, a sound escaping lips that want
to say how he misunderstood the promise
in her words. He thought the sky would soar
with accolades, but hears only church bells
pealing in an early dawn to celebrate
the quiet audaciousness of daffodils.
Bio
Linda Conroy is a retired social worker who likes to write about the complexity of behaviors that make us human, our connection to nature and to the changing times. Her poems have appeared in various journals. She is the author of a poetry collection, Ordinary Signs.