my body lies over the ocean

my body. i have never been a small girl and it tells that story. there are too many spots where my skin has all but given up trying to keep pace with the ever changing shrinking growing me. it doesn’t snap back like it use to but it’s still creamy smooth, hinting toward the pink. in spite of it’s flaws, i count it among my assets. my hair is dark brown with golden reddish highlights. in the sun, it glows. it’s fine and soft and when i let it air dry, it falls into barely there curls. i have cowlicks, and if i nap you can tell. i get a little sleepy snarl in the same spot every time. my face is my favorite part. i have big bright eyes under arched eyebrows. a nice smile. a small constellation of freckles lives on my left cheek. my lips are not thin nor full. my collar bone is only hinted at. buried under a cushion of me that softens all my would-be angles. my arms are long and end in hands i’ve been told are beautiful. i keep my nails short and unpainted. my knuckles are wrinkly in the right way. my breasts are big and round. and flatten out when i lay on my back. my stomach is where my insecurities sleep. it’s not flat or defined or anything that a magazine would suggest it be. it’s soft and pillow like. cushy. my belly button is an innie. my hips are in proportion to the rest of me and give way to long legs. i’m tall for a girl. i have a patch of blue-purple veins that i long to tattoo over on the side of my right leg. there is a small scar from a bike fall when i was ten. i have cute knees. they are dimpled and kid-like. i almost always have at least one bruise. pea soup green is the color they usually are. my ankles are nice, curving in good spots. they hold me up. my feet are wide but still have girlish charm. the arch is perfect and the skin there is soft. my toes are pudgy. especially the baby toe. it’s almost round. i have freckles all over me. spaced out, like a connect the dots. i am healthy and work well. my heart beat is strong. my breathing, fluid. i don’t need glasses. i can hear pins drop. my body is perfect imperfection.