With age the woman forgives
herself for saying too much
and all the wrong things
sits in her falling-apart house
feeling unbearably grateful that today
she is here
forgets to cover her yellowed teeth
with her hand when she laughs.
This woman who has bled
for you now bleeds for herself
and the blood is white as January sky
and her heart is cracked open like an egg
and her life spills out before you
like a gift she decided to take back.

Beth Mead is a Professor of Writing at Lindenwood University, the editor of The Lindenwood Review, and author of story collection Dancing Madly (Adelaide Books).