Just Beautiful

Today is the first day of NaPoWriMo 2022! Every day in April I will be writing a poem, sometimes following prompts from napowrimo.net and sometimes coming up with a poem all on my own with no prompts. Today I followed a prompt to write a prose poem about the body, involving two people, some spoken dialogue, and at least one crisp image. My prose poem is about a mother's self body image. 

Just Beautiful
By Candace Shultz

She stepped out of the shower, her body glistening, water droplets clinging to her skin. She grabbed her blue towel and dabbed at her face and breasts, then dried her arms and legs and back. She bent over letting her wet hair dangle towards the bath mat. She wrapped her hair tightly in the towel and stood straight, her body now dry and still naked. She walked to the bathroom door and stood in front of a full mirror. She looked at her breasts, not as perky as they used to be. She looked at her stomach, one big pouch full of tiger stripes. She looked at her thick thighs and wide hips and... "Mama?" A young girl's voice broke into the woman's thoughts. "Yes?" She replied. "Don't we look pretty?" Her daughter asked. So she looked at her daughter dressed in pajamas with her hair in a towel turban, and she smiled. "Yes, baby, just beautiful, you and I."