society told her she was ugly and she bought into the lie
she dissected every bit of herself for judgmental inspection
and tried to feel beautiful all in vain
comparing herself to photoshopped figures on a magazine page
I saw the sadness in her eyes
as she flipped through the shit they use sexualized bodies to advertise
subliminal brainwash since birth that writes on the mind
I want her to feel beautiful in the body she was born with
feel happy in her skin
never satisfied with the body she is in
compliments never do shit so where do I begin
she points at bodies she says are perfect
not knowing that she is too
sadness blooms as she starts to slip
downward spiral spin
cuts down on meals to be thin
but I can already fucking see her ribs
its disgusting and sick the way the world is
she made up her mind about the beauty she can’t find
its chiseled and set in stone
she doesn’t let go
all my compliments bounce back like an echo
she knows I mean them but it takes more than reminders
she has to know it for herself and believe it as truth
I search for the answer for how to help
and try to piece together clues
then I ask myself what can I do
I want to rip apart the magazines
destroy the ads on TV
clear store shelves of all the barbies
and replace all the images we see
she has a goal to be thin like there is a perfect weight
she takes a few bites before she pushes away the plate
chasing personal goals of perfection in a never ending race
I count each rib when she goes to stretch her arms
and die inside seeing the way societal pressures harm
it sounds danger alarms but I don’t know how to help
the gorgeous angel in my sites never sees the beauty for herself
I hope that one day she will
so the damage done will be erased
and she will no longer judge herself based on the models on a page
or on the TV screens
the barbies from her youth effecting childhood dreams
I dream of a day where she will stop hurting
and look into a mirror then finally say that she is perfect
Debate Magazine
