There is Beauty...

As I age,

spinning years that pass all too quickly,

when hair becomes an aluminous gray, of which

I wonder daily, should I embrace or wash away?

My mind still paused at 25, however,

the wisdom accrued knows the hands of time have been ticking.

I have come to realize

that in all its trappings

of life and death

and

joy and pain -

there is beauty.

Beauty in the letting go and

embracing what is.

Beauty in the most difficult of times.

Those very moments that take your breath away as you ache.

The minutes that leave your face tear stained red with agony.

The seconds that leave a weight on your chest like an anvil not wanting to release its pressure -

there is beauty.

In the darkest and hardest moments of what is and what is yet to come

I promise you,

there is beauty.

You may have to do some digging

of entrenching your hands in the dirt and the soil

uncovering new life deep within the depths of the undergrowth

in the muck and the mud

but

there is a beauty.

And when you feel as though you cannot face the storm head on,

move into it without shelter nor the desire to shield yourself from the rain.

Allow its painful pelts to hit your face

and

sting your skin

because in all those moments that fill you with layers of the unthinkable

beauty will find its way in.

Across your mind

and

into your heart and you will

emerge better for having the soil beneath your nails

and

the rain dripping from your hair,

the storms and their relentless poundings,

the grief and the longing,

the pain and the victory,

the memories that shall last a lifetime -

there is beauty.