When I Rise

As I gaze in the mirror,
the stretch marks and scars
of my life before me,
a silent presentation

of my love and work remains.

How will I look when I am perfected?

When I rise that morning,
will I look down, panic stricken,
and wonder: How will my love know me?
I was never this way when we were together,
even young.

Will I search for the marks of my children
on smooth and unmarked skin?
Will the scars I grew so much to heal
be regretted, if only a moment?

I earned them:

blood, sweat, tears.

Or will my perfected heart
see this same old body
with perfect eyes and real respect
for my hard-won stretch marks and scars.

I only know one perfect man

and well, he kept his scars:

a representation of his love,
the achievement of perfection.

Kimberly Hartvigsen is a stay at home mom with kids who go to school all day, and wife to a man who believes sewing, reading and writing are more important than mopping, dusting and dishes.  When she was an angst-y teen she wrote obsessively, volumes of journals and stories and very rarely poetry. She has a harder time writing now that she is largely happy, but prefers the results of her work.  

Join us for a discussion of "When I Rise" here.