‘Who of you will join me?’

Angie Andrews

‘There is precious little acceptance in our society

of the changes in our bodies,

brought about by sacrifice,

by the giving of life to others.

People want us to look unscathed, unscarred.

Without the sagging in our breasts,

the stretchmarks on our stomach,

the lines of strain and struggle.

People want us to look

ageless, timeless.

With the model body of a young girl.

With long flowing hair,

fair skin, firm upright breasts,

tight muscled tummy slim thighs and long legs.

The image of the lithe and slender is what men lust for.

The image of what men lust for is what women strive for.

Where is the place for the beauty

derived from love

and developed through sacrifice?

Where are the people

who will celebrate

the signs of someone

who has given themselves to others

through touch, in tears, with love,

unnumbered times?

Who of you will join me

in forsaking the images

we idolize in our society?

Who of you will join me

in turning away from the mirror

towards the door that leads to the needs of others?

Who of you will join me

in the risk of being worn out

of being wrinkled, of being thrown away?

‘We are not fools,

who give what we cannot keep!

to gain what we cannot lose!’