A Patchwork of Time – A Poem

As I approach

my fortieth year,

I have been

studying my body

for signs of change.

I have been wondering:

Have I lived enough?

Have I strived on with courage?

Have I embraced my life?

I look down at everything

that makes up my body,

that has marked a moment

in my life, a memory

preserved upon my skin.

On my right wrist,

there is a marking

shaped like a scar

to remind me

that we can overcome

what scars us.

There is a marking

on my left wrist

which reminds me

that some deaths are not physical

and those too can be overcome.

It carries within it

one of my happiest memories,

so close to actual magic that

it still thrills me,

that moment when

I became a real wizard

and learned to fly.

There is a spot near my left nostril

that carries the sharp scent

of the pink lemonade

that my grandmother used to make for me.

There is a scar on my right knee

from when I went zip lining

in the congo of Costa Rica

and I can still hear the rush of wind

when I run my finger along it.

Along the curve of my lips,

there is the memory

of saying ‘I do’ to my husband;

along the edge of my right ear

is the sound of him saying the same.

Words cover my skin,

quotes from books that have stayed with me

throughout the years, written in

a cursive script, as if they were written

on the moment that I read them:

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live…”

“Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”  

“If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.”

“Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t you think?”

“Evil, however powerful it seemed, could be undone by its own appetite.”

I find each quote

at its beginning and

trace my fingers

over the words to their end.

I hold all of this within in my skin,

a patchwork of time passed

and time yet to come.

Looking down at my body

and everything it contains,

I know that I’ve lived,

that I am courageous and have strength

and that I have embraced life and everything

that it has to offer

to the fullest.

As I approach

my fortieth year,

I look at

my body and

wonder what else

life has in store…