OLD WOMAN ON A BUS

OLD WOMAN ON A BUS
Wednesday, November 26, 2025 by DEBORAH RUTHERFORD

Categories: SPIRITUALITY

PLEASE WELCOME

DEBORAH RUTHERFORD

HAVING THE PRIME OF MY LIFE

Deborah was a guest on Tuesday’s Treasure, so I wrote a review and endorsement for her upcoming poetry collection, Prodigal Daughter. (see bio and review below.) This poem especially spoke to me, so I asked to have it included in Having the Prime of My Life. I pray it speaks to you as it did to me.

AN OLD WOMAN ON THE BUS

Deborah Rutherford

(used by permission)

I once saw

the most beautiful old woman

on a bus ride through Los Angeles.

There she was on that decrepit bus,

Beauty in all her shining glory,

with her radiant skin,

long white hair,

and blue eyes

hazed with cataracts.

Me in my younger self

thought

that’s who I want to be

when I am aged,

my youth diminished,

and chestnut locks grayed.

I basked in her brilliant, bluish eyes,

her snow-white tresses flowing

and skin glowing after a lifetime.

Now, as I look into the mirror

all these years later

I ask myself to myself,

“How did you sneak in?”

Can I paint away my fading youth

with hair color and makeup?

Can I put age out of sight?

Maybe that is why we get cataracts,

to soften the blow of seeing our aged selves in the mirror:

the one who remembers

as we once were.

But back to the beautiful old woman

on the bus,

can I be like her?

Is there still time to become

what I am becoming?

Is this where peace is found

by making peace with aging?

Though it is necessary

to grieve for a moment, and lament the loss.

Then, say goodbye to younger years,

and dance with what is to come.

ABOUT DEBORAH RUTHERFORD

Deborah Rutherford is an award-winning poet, wife, and former Emmy-winning makeup artist. She shares her story of spiritual homecoming through her podcast, Behold-Her Beauty, and her books, including Unexpected Blessings and the upcoming Prodigal Daughter: Poems of Light for the Lost.

https://deborahrutherford.com

https://www.instagram.com/deborahrutherfordwrites/

https://www.facebook.com/Mrs.DeborahRutherford/

https://deborahrutherford.substack.com/

Unexpected Blessings: 40 Days of Discovering God's Best: https://amzn.to/4oweHu8

Prodigal Daughter: Poems of Light for the Lost, soon to be released in January 2026. Sign up here for the Launch Team Interest Form: https://forms.gle/9acCLphgSQE58RfV7

MY REVIEW OF PRODIGAL DAUGHTER*****

Seldom do I encounter Christian poetry as a true art form. These poems are authentic, as they take the reader on emotional journeys through the author’s life experiences. My favorite was “Old Woman on a Bus.” This poem explores the emotions from once viewing an older person as a young adult to the realization that she is aging and hopes to have the light that the old woman had.

I highly recommend this read. Not only is this a literary work of art, it is also masterfully simple in its beautiful imagery to help the reader, even those who don’t especially care for poetry, to sense the truths the author brings in their rendering.

Put this on your to-read list. And sign up to help the author with the launch.