<< Back to Frances' poetry
<< Back to "Ageing or Marriage" poems

Here’s Rembrandt with his pleasant, intelligent features,
looking freshly startled by my gaze across 350 years.
He’s dressed himself up as the apostle Paul and clearly has no use
for Boots Nº7 Uplifting Day Cream which Visibly firms
and redefines in 2 weeks, lifting and tightening as soon as
you smooth it on; it being an undeniable truth that as we age,
we droop, loosen and grow somewhat fuzzy around the edges.
Yet this mature Rembrandt looks more self-assured than his younger,
bumpkin self, though his nose certainly does bulge a little more.
When I offer him the tube of cream to moisturise his face,
he frowns, scribbles on his parchment and turns away.

© Frances Bathgate, July 2009