I’m afraid today I left my knitting at home with my tea set
and my string of pearls
Instead I packed a smoking gun,
a belly full of laughs, a bottomless appetite for fun.
I left at home the polite chat, my desire to please
my home-baked scones.
Instead I brought a mouth like a sewer
a bottleful of ambition,
the power to make my life my own.
So, I apologise if all of you saw of me was my grey hair
but I brought that with me as a reminder
for those who may not always be aware
that old women are never what you think we are.
Liz McPherson