Pretty Hurts
To Insecure Women
Mother would always say
You are a pretty girl
That no one in the world
Matches to your face
But in our heads
Her words do not matter
Only what our abusive conscious says
Family always announced
Your grace and beauty
Your poised perfection
At every family event
So that the whole world would know
That you were some model
But we smiled like we knew it
Although we never thought that
So it never mattered what they said
Or what they thought
Shamefully standing in front of that glass
Staring at our own reflection
As if it were God
And we had to do every bit of re-masking to impress him
Preparing the day’s laugh
So that it was not too loud or too bland
But just right
As if everyone else around us was perfect
But we thought they were
Confusingly rehearsing facial expressions
The type of smile we need
To use for the event we are attending
So that we never come off as rude or too nice
But just right
As if everyone else around us was perfect
But we thought they were
Cautiously combing each strand of hair
As if tending to silk
Daintily applying each eyelash
Each earring
Every piece of obnoxious jewelry
To make sure we never looked to over done
Or underdone
But just right
As if everyone else around us was perfect
But we thought they were
And nothing ever seemed more right
Than when you got a compliment
But you looked at the girl
Twenty feet away
And every bit of confidence and hope you had for yourself
Diminished with half a second
Because her grace and beauty
Her different eye color
Her sculpted makeup and stylish fabrics
Multicolored hair and dazzling jewelry
Tan skin tone
Shining face
Toned limbs
Made you deny every bit of you that was and is great
Because if you could not look like her
You became nothing in your eyes
As if everyone else around us was perfect
But we thought they were
Delicately painting every nail
Every hour spent primping for the day
The fact that you never realized
That every one is different
No two people are exactly alike
Is the sole reason why you are near perfection
Nobody is perfect
But considering the fact that there is only one of you
Seems to be that if there is only one
You must be doing a pretty good job
Because there is no one else to be good at being you
Well,
Pretty hurts
You may not be picture perfect,
But you are worth the picture
And when the world cannot determine a perfect person
When the other girl hair looks like silk
And yours seems to look one step away from a nest
It doesn’t matter because just this morning
She was in frumpy clothes with no makeup and frizzy hair
Pretty hurts
When we try to fix the one thing we cannot see
When our soul needs the surgery
Pretty hurts
And when you are alone
Holding your locked phone screen to your face
To judge your worth
Just remember
Pretty Hurts
