‘I’ve earned every line on my face’

I looked in the mirror
Expecting to see
The woman I know
Looking back at me.

But how could this be?

A stranger’s face
Is what I saw.
It seems overnight
Someone decided to draw…

Lines!

I continued to stare
At the wear and tear.
The young girl so fair
Now long gone.

How could this happen?
I don’t understand!
Where was the artist
Who used his hand

To draw all these lines?

I searched high and low.
I needed to know.
Why did he bestow
This strange portrait
On me?

I sat down on my bed
Holding my head
In my hands.

So many lines!

My brow
What now?
A permanent frown?
My smile had been turned
Upside down!

My eyes were all wrinkled
Like paper that crinkled.
As for my chin
I didn’t grin.
It had doubled!

Lines are part of each day.
Show me where I must stay
When I park my car.
And I can’t go far
Without lining up
For something I need.
Their boundaries I heed
Or a ticket I pay.

But My Face?

Lines

How do I keep pace?
Find the grace
To accept what I see?

The artist unknown
Shows me I’ve grown –
Old.

But when I look closer
He’s drawn not just Lines.
There’s so much more there.

With love and great care.
A reminder to dare
To be the best me.

It’s not what I see
When I look in the mirror.

It’s what I know in my heart.

I know I must start
To see something new.
Learn from their view.

Let Lines point the way
In a different direction.
The intersection
Between old
And bold.

Can I accept what I see?
Learn there is more to me
Than the mirror’s reflection?

I am a collection
Of all the time past.
All that I’ve learned.

These Lines
I have earned!

How do you feel about your lines?

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