Anna Cotton Growing Out

Growing Out

Ageing sucks It’s just as well I don’t rely on my looks Eyebrows thinning Waistline fattening Jawline slacking Brain wracking asking who is this woman in the mirror?

Not my mother She’s never had my streak She tells me that even before I was born she never danced with abandon or partied till dawn Never so much as drank till she's drunk Not even once

Upon the wall I’m joining the dots between snapshots Filling in the gaps If I could turn back time to 1999 I’d say hey, you’ll make mistakes along the way Wake up face down in an ashtray But trust me, things will turn out okay

I picture my past self Me, but not me Cheekbones, hipbones, fragility Some days blinded by insecurity Others weightless and free

These days I’m solid I’ve anchored my identity I’m bloated with happiness I’m burdened by responsibility

Ageing sucks the youth from my lips Yet plumps me with substance and boosts my resistance

Wisdom brackets my sparking eyes My wrinkles parenthesis reframing, with emphasis that ageing needn’t be an encumbrance Why not embrace its expanding circumference of experience?

Ageing sucks the doubt from my core I feel whole, I feel bold I feel strong, I feel more