caroline ridgway

my curves

are an ancestral burial ground

my soft belly, a soft landing

the shallow indents of my

collarbones, a steady vantage point

I am muscle buried in skin

stretch marks, rivulets like

a bird’s eye view of the delta at low tide

I am a dermatologic wonder – adorned with all manner

of speckles and spots, and scars of interesting texture and shape

– if you connected them, which constellations might appear

I lack the leggy physicality of

the more recently established

I am weighty, grounded,

functional if not exquisite

I will not be praised for

Great Beauty

my legacy is my durability