You are not pretty

You are beautiful

Your eyes are not shiny

They sparkle with joy and laughter
They give you away when you are lying
They let me see your soul and how you see the world

Your face isn’t carved

It’s molded to form a shape that is unique to you
It holds the years of laughter around your eyes
And the things you’ve conquered in the grooves of your furrow

Your cheeks are too fat

They are every smile you’ve ever had
Ones that you have shown to the world without fear
Some secret for only you to remember

Your hair is messy

Depicting your free spirit and that hunger for adventure
Gliding in the wind
Effortlessly falling into chaotic glee

Your smile is wrong

Because it takes everyone’s breath away
Your genuine smile is more precious
Than every lost dream

Your laugh is weird

Weirdly insane how I can know so much
About your inner most being
When those few notes of bliss escape

Pretty is only a fleeting word of appearance

Beautiful
Is you at your raw state when you are crying in grief
Laughing so much you feel as though you’re about to burst
Watching the sunrise closing your eyes and breathing in the early morning air
Chatting to the old lady down the road and asking her about her day
Saying goodnight and good morning to the people you love
Marveling at the stars that litter the sky above
Letting adoring two year olds follow you around taking their hand in yours

It is everything you are
You have been
And will be

You are not pretty

You,
you are beautiful