These days, my days flow like a cat.
Silently, indifferently.
With my back to the sunlight,
my eyelids half-closed.

When I see the fourteen-year-old cat sitting by the living room window,
I somehow see myself.
Once, it would jump onto my lap,
acting cute,
but now it just lies there,
dreaming quietly in the sunlight.
Occasionally, I see it gently waving its front paw,
and I mutter, 'That could happen.'

That calmness is a comfort these days.

My body feels unfamiliar.
After living for fifty-five years,
I've never felt this unfamiliar before.
Menopause has been approaching gradually,
and now the signals are clear.

Heat surges suddenly,
my body feels heavy,
and irritation rises silently.

My period stopped a year ago,
and the doctor said with certainty,
"It's menopause."

Though it's a late menopause,
I feel grateful that my body has endured this long.

I have no thoughts of pregnancy,
but I hear stories of women over fifty giving birth in the news,
and I think, that could happen.
The body is truly mysterious.
Not everyone goes at the same pace.

Thus, I have come to accept
my own pace.

Once,
I laughed at small things,
and enjoyed cooking and exercising,
but these days, it feels like one by one,
my engines are shutting down,
and I feel a bit sad and lethargic.

It's nothing special,
but I suddenly get angry,
and tears well up quickly,
which is unfamiliar.

However,
there's no longer a need to prepare monthly supplies,
and plans won't fall apart.
It's clear that I have become freer.

Still,
I feel a bit empty.
It's the feeling of a door closing.
The sound of an era passing.

I leave my youth
behind,
and now
I face a slightly different time.

But it's not bad.
I know better now what I want.
Between people,
and emotions,
things are less entangled.

This time,
has come quietly,
like a cat.
A little slowly, a little heavily.

But that's okay.

Life is longer than expected,
and change
always begins quietly.

Coming late,
walking slowly,
all have their own meanings.

And today,
on the sunlight,
my cat and I
are breathing together.