ibuprofen

Teenaged Girl
Keep popping your gum.
Someday—God willing—
you’ll grow old like me too,
two shakes of a lamb’s tail from menopause,
watching your breasts sag
closer to the floor,
wondering when the thin skin will give out.

You’ll take two ibuprofen in the morning
and at bedtime
(early—7 p.m. some nights)
for the hip and knee
you neglected like latchkey children
until they refused to go unnoticed.

Yes—someday you’ll be just like me.
Before you pop your gum once more,
know I still have half my life to go.