That's not a wrinkle, it's a medal,
I'm proud of every battle scar,
Of every chance to prove my mettle,
To show I've worked to get this far.

I bought the right to wake today
And bathe myself in morning sun,
Paid dear to watch the dust motes settle
After every fight I won.

Each grey hair's certification
Of one more story lived to tell
Of every challenge that I rose to
Of every time I lived through Hell.

So don't sell me your 'age defying'
I need no cream to turn back time
And there's no way I'll start denying
I've lived some years; it ain't no crime.

For every decade that I've witnessed,
Every orbit round the sun
I've shed some tears but more important
I dried them up then had some fun.

This fleshy tool that I inhabit
This vessel, corpus, chunk of meat
It doubles as a hall of trophies
For every time I wasn't beat.

For what would I erase those badges?
Why try to hide my souvenirs?
I am not a sapling, newly sprouting,
There's nothing wet behind these ears.

When I was young I shone and sparkled
The years slipped by a heady haze
But they were just me getting started
That side dish labelled 'salad days'

And what was smooth like supple willow
May now have a rougher bark
But I am weathered as an oak is
And I'm proud of every mark

This sticker book of every triumph
Is an album of each memory
Of all the good and all the bad
That life conspired to hurl at me.

I will not banish or remove
The lines that illustrate my strength
And I will not be made to hide
Each opalescent stretch marks length.

I am no newborn, I'm not mewling
I am not weak or soft or small
Please count the notches on the door frame
You'll see I've grown up rather tall.

And with the years that bring me wisdom
There's one thing I have surely learned
There is no shame but only value
In every wrinkle medal earned.