I Still Matter

They say I've reached the final stretch of time, Where days grow soft and memories align, But no one tells you what it truly means, To hold both loss… and all that you've seen. I've lived through years that shaped my name, Through quiet joy and seasons of pain, I've held the hands that slipped away, And found the strength to face each day. I've raised a life, I've built a home, I've stood through nights I faced alone, And though the years have carried me away, I've found myself in who I am today. There's silver now within my hair, But also wisdom resting there, Each line upon my face I see, Tells truth of who I came to be. I am not fading… I am full of years, Of love and loss and hidden tears, I'm still the heart that carried all this love so long. I'm still the proof that broken things can still be strong. I've loved, I've lost, I've carried on, Through every dusk and every dawn, And standing here, I clearly see, This life still has a place for me. Some chairs are empty now at night, Some voices gone beyond my sight, But still I feel them in my days, In quiet thoughts and subtle ways. And though the world may turn its gaze, Toward younger hearts and hurried days, There's something time has given me, A deeper kind of clarity. I am not less for growing old, I am the stories that I hold, The love I gave, the love I keep, The promises I still hold so deep. And if my steps have slowed their pace, It's only life I now replace With moments rich, with presence true, With time to see what matters through. I am not fading… I am standing strong, I've been the right in what went wrong, Every scar and every mile Was worth the tears, was worth the while. I've lived a life, I've earned this place, I carry time with quiet grace, And if you look… you'll finally see There's still so much ahead of me. And, in this last part of my life… I finally see what's meant to be, I am not ending… I am becoming all of me.