by Kelly

“I feel like a child,”

I tell him in the dawn of

my thirty-ninth year.

by Alison

party supplies stock

up in the kitchen pantry -

“farklempt”, I tear up

by Alison

“Tell me a secret!”

daughter whispers after stories

and before sleeptime.

.

And I do. I tell

her about my young, young life

35 years ago.

.

Looking for shiny

coins in the street, feeling shy

in kindergarten…

.

“Tell me one more!” she

begs but no… no more talking….

now it’s time to dream.

by Alison

red Petunia

crimson in the night -

I remember twenty

by Alison

41 years old

and still can’t identify

poison ivy

by Alison

cold car, warm highways -

I rub my eyes and accept

I now need glasses

by Alison

.

a tatami room

fun chatter and great sushi -

41 feels great!

by Kelly

“You’re almost 40,”

he says, “and you’re so pretty.”

the icicles drip

by Kelly

No matter how I

slice, her name won’t fit in a

meaningful haiku:

Isabella Rosellinni

Before a room filled

with women (and a few men),

she talked ageism.

When she turned 40,

Lancome sent her flowers and

flowers and flowers.

First she was flattered

then it hit her: the flowers

were for her funeral.

After 14 years

as the company’s model,

she was done–fired.

“The emphasis placed

on women’s beauty is part

of our oppression.”

Then she said, “I get

ofended when people say

you don’t look your age.”

“I’m happy to be

who I am. I’m 59.”

She continued on,

“You get the wrinkles,

of course, but you also get

enormous freedom.”

Finally she’s doing

what she always wanted to,

and that’s make movies.

Isabella Rosellinni, actress and super model, spoke in Minneapolis on Monday night. I had the pleasure of going to hear her speak.

I was delighted to learn about the newest role Ms. Rosellinni has taken on: film writer and producer. If you’ve got a moment, you simply must check out the two-minute movies she made for the Sundance Channel called Green Prono, which are all about the sex lives of insects.

Ms. Rosillinni was in town as part of the Smart Talk lecture series. In the coming months, Ann Compton and Sigourney Weaver will both come through Minneapolis.

As an official “Smart Talk Blogger,” I’ll be penning haiku about what each one of them has to say. Or, if you think you’d like to take in the events yourself, I have a coupon code to offer: KW2011.

Read more Smart Talk haiku.

by Alison

the creases between

my eyes have been made with love -

how much I have learned