Within days of my 18th birthday 
I got my first tattoo.
Making such a visible and permanent decision all on my own
was milestone stuff.
Now, at nearly 50,
I’ve covered up, added onto those first tattoos as part of a curated collection alongside my new ones;
Knowing now
what I wish to do with my bodily self
with the worldly acceptance that actually 
nothing of this physical realm
is forever.
 
Today as I see the sketch of how the ankle butterfly I loved at 19
will be wrapped into a sprawling lilac bloom
I think about my skin
now an eclectic showcase of a half century of living
tattoos and birthmarks, scars and bruises
like poems etched in indelible ink
and still so much space 
yet to fill.
 
6/30/26