Unashamed

I didn’t expect to see you so early.

Brown hair limp and stringy

Not a fancy color.

Not bronze, or golden auburn, just brown.

Wrinkles claw at the corners of my eyes and haunt my lips.

The scar on my chin - not hidden by makeup.

My t-shirt wrinkled and stretched from a restless night.

Stumpy, pale legs jutting out beneath the mid-thigh hem.

There you were staring back at me as if truly seeing me.

For the first time in a long time.

Your eyes, hazel green, seem to accept me for all my beautiful flaws.

You made not a move but rather studied me in return.

A small smile floating like a wisp upon your pink lips.

Those eyes travel down my body.

Life has added a couple extra pounds.

For the first time in a long time,

I am not ashamed.

I boldly step forward, not away.

For, what do I have to hide?

Your smile stretches further,

A twinkle appears in those hazel green orbs.

One I had not seen in many years.

Roses bloom upon my pallid cheeks.

A girlish reaction in a grown woman.

I am not ashamed.

I step closer still, a breath away from you.

A fluttering of excitement taking off from the pit of my soul.

It spreads like fire through my veins.

Awakening the girl within me

She had sought all of life’s adventures.

I reached up and gently brushed strands of hair from my face.

“Well, hello.” My voice came out strong and proud.

I was not ashamed.

The woman in the mirror was beaming back at me.

“I missed you,” she replied.