Beautiful Wrinkles

Every wrinkle on this old face
Springs from an inner state of grace,
Every line is designed to amaze.
No need for you to avert your gaze!

I would never even dream
Of Botox nor youth-seeking cream.
Why should I conceal what youth yet lacks:
Love, warmth -- even sweet tears from setbacks?

Despair -- that made me warm and wise,
Which would-be beauties might despise.
For these lines prove I've laughed and cried
And loved -- and lived -- before I died.

If beauty is indeed just skin deep,
Each lovely wrinkle is mine to keep!

(Author's Note: A special thank you to Stephen Colley for his work in polishing this piece, and making it into a sonnet about loving yourself for who you are. Check out some of the work of this talented writer. I particularly loved his poem, "The River".)