all of these lines

Lines

Back then
It was the lines
I wrote for my teacher
The deadlines I missed
The necklines that should have been higher
The lines
I should never have snorted.

Later it was
the lines he spun me.
The marriage lines
The decline.
The lines under my eyes.

Meanwhile there were
tram lines
power lines
clothes lines.

Much later
I crossed the mid-life timeline
Made a beeline
For the botox
to erase the age lines.

These days
It’s a Jason re-cline
with my feline –

But first
I’ll put on my eye liner
hop on an ocean liner
cross the date line
wearing necklines
lower than the tideline.

I’ll jut out my bustline
Grab the bowline
Then leap over the “too old for sex” line
one more time

before the flat line.

Hopscotch

When we were kids we played hopscotch.
Drew grids in the dust with sticks:
hopped carefully in every empty square.

Hop hop jump hop jump and turn.
Retrace your steps and do it all again.
Make sure you don’t tread on the lines.

It’s was a game that required concentration
agility and balance – and now as grown-ups
we still play it every day.

MORE

There’s more of me these days
to be exposed
to the air and the sun.

These days
I displace more water
in the bath (and the ocean)

-  one quick dip
on an evening balmy
might cause a tsunami.

These days
I require a six pack of sunscreen
to prevent burning

-  my few square feet of skin
has stretched
to many acres.

These days
I struggle to fit my bust
behind the steering wheel of the car

-  my bottom overflows the toilet bowl
and I occupy
more than one seat on the tram.

These days
I have more warts, more broken veins
and more fat cells per cubic inch
than ever before.

-  I ache more, itch more and snore more.
Eat more drink more and weigh more.

-  I am more grumpy
more clumsy
and more forgetful.

These days
more is less
and less
would be more.

The visible panty line

When your pencil skirt is white
or your jeggings are too tight
any stretchy pants just might
reveal your visible panty line (visible panty line)

If you sometimes drop your bundle
in Hindley Street or Rundle
don’t bend and grunt and fumble
And show your visible panty line (visible panty line)

When your baby spits its dummy
to the floor all wet and gummy
please don’t retrieve it Mummy
We’ll see your visible panty line (visible panty line)

It’s never quite respectable
always unacceptable
highlighting your receptacle
With a visible panty line (visible panty line)

Alternatives aren’t viable
Thongs are much too pliable
and nothing is as reliable
As your visible panty line (visible panty line!)