I am trapped
Encased

In a crusty shell

Of grotesque awkwardness
And ugly flaws

That’s beginning to strangle me

-x-

You are hiding
Concealed

In a sleek covering

Of restrained beauty
And face value

That’s smaller than your worth

-x-

They cannot see
Lies

Assumptions they have made

As the total
Prisons they are

Fools; we ought escape

-x-

Peel away my
Putridity

And I will shatter

The suffocating shell
Of accepted beauty

So we can love

-x-

Burn these stereotyping
Masks

To smoke and ashes

See what space
And freedom creates

We’ll be new beauty