Daring to Age

by ​Abigail Michelini

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​We line our cheeks with crinkling 
creases of laughter. We let loose 
skin hang like a string of uneven pearls 
over our swimsuits. We dare to post photos 
 
unfiltered, our wrinkles so weighty they cast 
shadows on the shallow. We feed 
our figures, then flex them, sweat pooling 
in cellulite craters on thick thighs.
 
Don’t tell me about your shortcuts to smooth, 
your face fillers and weight loss drugs,
when all the times I was happy rim my every 
expression, body brimming with saggy bags 
 
like a topographic memory you can feel 
with your fingers: a map of my life lived. 
 
No, I won't delete these stories with retinol cream.
No, I won't hate my sunspots after all that exposure 
to shine. I won’t chase a snatched waist with surgery
or inflate my features with botox balloons
 
cause I might not survive another round 
with an eating disorder if it ever wants a go,
and I hear you tantalizing it with your quick fix pills
and removal routines so if I come across as rude --
 
I am not sorry. I punch up because I want my kids to know:
We dare to sag from our smiles, ripple from pain, rather than 
freeze our faces into airbrushed, feigned frames.
We are lucky to age.
 

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Abigail Michelini is a Pushcart-prize nominee whose work can be found in SWWIM, The Main Street Rag, and Thimble Literary Magazine, among other publications. Her scholarly work has been published in The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics and Writing Center Journal. She is the author of the chapbook, Brace (Thirty West Publishing House) and teaches writing at Northampton Community College. Find her at www.abigailmichelini.com. 

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