Crooked Beauty

I am crooked, my jagged vertebrae rolling

down my back  like worry stones,

the rounded edges blurring just under the skin.

And sometimes I can’t help but smooth

over the fabric of my worry, twist up the

coverlet to my chin and wait for time to

pass, like water over stones.

But I am more like refractions of light,

the kind that seeps under dress collars,

searching for salvation along the chalky lines

of my wrists and elbows--I am

perseverant hues of cornflower blue

and Crayola pink.

And I am more than all of my anxiety,

more than the broken slope of my back

and the space between my fingers, toes.

I am illuminated. I am cracked window

panels and glowing linoleum.

But more than anything, I am beautiful.