She has not felt the need to dye her hair
for years. She trusts my eyes, which count her charms,
and those who say how young she looks, she arms
herself with smiles that even time can’t pare.

I can not claim the credit for this shot,
of hers, a selfie taken on her phone
with skills she learnt from me and made her own
when first we met, and which she ne’er forgot.

A day or two from now the surgeons come
to cut, replace the valve and fix the leak
which steals away her life. My fear is bleak
she’ll not survive and I shall be left numb.

Defences I have none, so magicked in her trance.
For forty years she tamed and held me with her glance.
 

                                   30 December 2023