Ageless Beauty

I no longer measure myself by numbers, reflections or timelines

I have outgrown the mirror’s opinion

I am not reaching backwards

Or chasing the shimmer of youth

Or polishing myself to be more palatable

I do not resist time 

I rise with it 

And let it carve me into someone 

More honest

And whole

The passage of time 

Is not a thief

But a sculptor 

Revealing a rich storehouse 

Of laughter

Grief

And stories 

I do not want to be admired for how little I’ve aged

But for how fully I’ve lived 

Time has not diminished me

It has clarified me

Refined me 

Granted me freedom 

From the weight of surface things

So I can be a full and interesting woman 

With a deeper kind of beauty 

I am not fading

I am ripening

By Tanya Cameron