Self hatred was an on going battle for me.
It's been years and I'm still affected.
I tried so hard to love myself and at times I did.
I felt beautiful,
worth it,
I felt like me.
Which is weird because I didn't even know who "Me" was.
It never lasted
Time flew by and in a matter of seconds, I was fighting again.
Yelling, lashing, trying to eliminate the monster that lived inside of me.
That part of me that made me believe I was ugly
that I'm not gonna go anywhere, that I'm not worth anything,
It wasted so much of my life.
I spent so much time fighting that I was losing myself again and it scared me.
I couldn't find my way out of that maze I use to know like the back of my hand.
I did it a thousand times so why couldn't I then.
It's not that difficult and I understand that now but my brain had been so drained that I couldn't seem to follow the simplest tasks.
That Self-hatred came from society telling us how to live..
I was told how to live for so long,
Look like him,
Have grades like her,
Do this,
Do that.
It was only a matter of time till I broke and I wasn't gonna let that happen again.
Society told me how to live for so long that I finally decided to die.
I stopped fighting and when I did, I wasn't the one who died, the monster inside of me was.
Some see it as suicide but I see it as self saving.
How can you say you're living when you aren't even being you.
How can you live your life guided by guideline made from people that don't see imperfections.
Tell me that.
Do you even know?
I just hope you know that
It's okay to not be slim
It's okay not to have curves
It's okay to feel different
It's okay to want to die, I've felt that way many times, I'm pretty sure in the hell hold, we all have.
But I chose to live and you should too.
No, you need to!
Because I'm not ready to see you on the news tomorrow.
Stop letting others thoughts kidnap yours.
People behind computers are not our gods and until they can prove us that they're, I'm gonna live my life doing the things I love and you should too.
Live your life the way you want to, because you only get one.
Stop fighting and find yourself because once you do, it'll make everything worth it.
Just remember in this context.
It's not suicide, it's self saving.
This is the poem I would've done if I made it to the second round of my schools slam, but I didn't and that's okay!! I got to perform one I care about a lot and I always have next year!