They painted her a portrait
that reminded them of her
Told her she was an outcast
She believed their every word

There are no explanations
for their blatant cruelty
The portrait of the black sheep
wasn’t a spitting image of me

I spent years trying to convince them
In every perfectionistic way
Always striving for greatness
but there never came a day

I took to beating myself up
Because I couldn’t get it right
The scars left on this body
Reflect a deep internal fight

Anxious and exhausted
I stepped out of the ring
broken and defeated
by the demons I was battling

I lived my life on false hope
believing the day would finally come
When they would love and accept me
for who I had become

Today that day does not exist
their portrait still taints the wall
but I realize I can’t win this battle
by keeping myself small

So I painted a self portrait
Of much more than what they see
Forever on my wall it speaks
“You are good enough for me”