I have learned

I have learned what beauty is:

to take responsibility for each piece,

to receive this gift I did not create.

I have learned to appreciate

long hair without forcing it

to hold my security.

This, I hold in palms stretched out towards Heaven.

Come and see what the Lord has done!

I have learned to love my 

translucent skin, the thinness 

of wrist bones, these popping hips,

exquisite functions, systems that breathe.

I have learned that beauty is

in the being,

not the doing.

That beauty is to be given, not as something to watch, or ogle,

but as something which offers freedom, safety, and joy.

Beauty is not to be held.

Beauty is not for pleasing people,

but for praising the Creator.

Consider the lilies.

Consider the sacrifice.

Consider the sunrise.

Consider your own eyes.

I have learned to take responsibility

for each piece of this gift,

not as something to tame,

fix, style, purify, or cling to,

but as something to celebrate.

A Breath,

a place to hold peace,

a vehicle for this dancing spirit.

A gift,

given in joy.

I have learned to receive.

That’s beauty.
Thank You.