We never really knew what it meant
to be beautiful
because they never showed us
how we were beautiful
They always told you could do your hair better
smile bigger
nicer clothes
change change change
never really knew that it wasn’t
us that was the problem
it was our moms
and dads
and siblings
and friends
that never really showed us
the light in our eyes and how it glistened
brighter than the Sun
the moon and all the other stars
far off in a galaxy that screams
cries to be noticed
just like us.
So we stopped smiling in the mirror
and we started to suck our cheeks in
and push our hips back
to create gaps in our body
because the empty space of our body
is more beautiful than the complexity
of our body of our mind of our soul
and we smile at others
and we tell them how their beautiful
and we tell them to love ourselves
because we wanted that
because we needed that
because we never got that
and we want to make a difference
no matter how little it is
never fully realizing that the change is in ourselves
and when we look in the mirror
when we look at a picture
it is us that is beautiful
our hearts through our eyes
from the toes to the head
pouring out of us with love
not because a person told us we were pretty
But
because we found ourselves beautiful.
So we made promises
that our children
will see the light in their eyes
and the beauty in themselves
so they don’t have to breathe alone at night
staring at their ceiling
wondering
waiting
wishing
beauty doesn’t lie in the eye
of the beholder it lies in
Every.
Single.
Person.