ELEGIAC: "THE SUN HAS LEFT THE BEACH" BY SUMAILA ISAH UMAISHA

Wrinkled with leftover

beauty, she sagged

against the wall, a sack

from a barren farm.

Costly cosmetics

sit on the canvas,

caked rainbow waiting

for the rains of yesterday.

She hid her smiles

in beauty, empty nests;

now she hides her tears

beneath cracked smiles.

The sun has left the beach,

gone behind the mountains,

leaving the dead fronds

for the next tide.

© Sumaila Umaisha

- Nigeria 

The poem reflects on the inevitable decline that comes with old age and the fading of physical beauty. It portrays an elderly woman who once relied on her beauty and cosmetics to attract admiration, but now finds herself burdened by wrinkles, loneliness, and hidden sorrow. Despite her attempts to preserve her youthful appearance, time has taken its toll, leaving only memories of the past.

Through powerful imagery and symbolism, the poet compares the end of youth to the setting sun leaving the beach, emphasizing that beauty, vitality, and happiness are temporary. Overall, the poem conveys the themes of aging, the transience of beauty, the passage of time, loss, and the acceptance of life's natural cycle.