map of my face

crowned by grey hair
I look upon
my face
and attempt to reveal the secrets held within

I can no longer see
my childhood freckles
and for the first time
I miss them

a scar across my left eyebrow
a faint bald patch
evidence of a drunken fall at the
age of 18 outside the YMCA
and awakening to the sight of a policeman
with radio
calling it in

and the sight of two friends
scarpering at the appropriate moment
with their stash
safely in their back pockets

the other brow
has also not managed
to escape unscathed
a crescent shaped scar sits
unhapplily above it
marking the spot
where my head
kissed the platform
at a hackney train station

at least i managed to alight
at the right stop
and didn't sleep all the way
to chingford
and emerge miles from home
uninjured

I close my mouth
I hate my teeth
crooked
discoloured
a life time of drinking
and smoking

and a waste of 2 years
of being called metal mouth
when the freckles were still around

a goatee
silver, brown, slight
taste of ginger

the map of my face