(For one
of my college writing classes, the teacher presented us with a picture of
an aged woman of undeterminable years. "What do you see?" the teacher
asked. This is the result.)
I gaze upon
the photograph of a handsome woman in her sunset years. She is sitting on
the porch before the first cup of coffee, soaking up the early morning sun
during that peaceful time after the night's long, cool hours. It is a time
to watch the day birth, to wake slowly, gently with the world. She is in her
morning coat, her hair frayed with sleep, posing, mildly disturbed by the
photographer. She has a slight frown and seems to be poised with barely contained,
toe-tapping impatience for the brief interruption to be over. Her eyes are
bright with inquisitive intelligence, seem to stare back with a knowing curiosity,
and sparkle with a ready wit that threatens to leap out at any moment,.