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Anders Thompson Mar 2017
or varicose veins
to those doctors definitists with or without them
me i call mine “disconcerting” and “homely” they are not
the result of poor diet
lack of exercise a weak heart
or a passive cardiovascular system
but of heritage and pedigree and
a genetic lottery i did not win
up the inside of my thighs crawl pale distorted crags
and newborn ruddy lightning
a bloodied patchwork of stretch marks that drag
themselves up to the cradle of my pelvis
and wrap clumsy arms around my hips
my legs await the distortion and corruption of time
yet at seventeen have already begun their heady work
long twisting and sickly a grotesque lace
of my veins pushes through bland mole speckled skin
to emerge disgusting and putrid
like the terrors of children’s nightmares
terrifying not for tooth and nail
but the rotten repulsive pelt
my mental soliloquy before my audience (the mirror)
is a series of silent pleas and malcontented muttering
would that i were slimmer there thinner here
more graceful and pleasing to the idle eye
smooth skinned and dewy eyed
not thick and tired and slow
a little more color and vigor to sallow white skin
more beauty more beauty more beauty more beauty more beauty
i tell myself my self conscious vanity my self disgust
is a product of patriarchy and objectification
that i am and always will be a mind not a body
that if i let myself be this way i am shallow
and conceited and vain and no amount of arguing with myself
will decrease my superficial nature if i care about appearances
dressing up is a way of making myself externally attractive
and hiding the internal eternal abyss
the eyeliner attempts
are only a way to draw eyes to mine because i want them to look
into these innervated wastelands and see something attractive
but i am falling into that abyss of shallow
existence and slipping into a weak and meaningless soul
that can be washed away in the flood of the masses
read jung and freud tear through sun tzu and nietzsche and forget
about the poor player who struts and frets their hours upon the stage of life
who wanted to be pretty
wanted to know beauty
wanted to dig into themselves
and come up with fistfuls of worth
This is an ode to my own self love
Because tonight I forgot who I ******* was
I was looking at a profile with the guy i was on a date with and he said that the girl in the picture was pretty and I asked what about her is pretty and as we scrolled through the pictures he said I like the ones where she looks normal
And when this ******* meant normal
I knew he meant white
He mean blonde haired, blue eyed, perfect skin and white teeth
And I looked at myself I knew I was none of these things
My skin is not white, neither are my teeth, and they are crooked
Like my skin, which is not flawless, no Beyoncé, I did not wake up flawless
My hair is dark brown, almost black, but that's my natural color
I've been bleaching it blonde since I was twelve
What the **** does that tell you
I got my first two tattoos when I was eighteen
And I saw how the girls face had no piercings
And I looked at my 00 gauges and my septum, cartilage, tragus, and second hole piercings
And I wanted to rip them all off
I wanted to scratch my tattoos off
I wanted to take my hair off
I wanted to rip my skin off
I felt inadequate
I felt like I could never be enough
Well I'm tan and unconventional
So that means I can never be ******* loved
So this is an ode to myself:

Dear Ella,
Look at me,
Thick body, with curves that slay like Beyoncé's
Glasses thick so you can see your own beauty
Lipstick dark like the shade of a ruby
And you don't care
You don't care what anyone thinks because you know you rock it
Your blonde and brown hair is unique, no one else can rock it
Your piercings are a part of you, that's why you ******* chose them
The same thing with the tattoos, girl, that's why you own them
They have meaning to you, they're beautiful to you
So what the **** does what this guy thinks phase you
The way you do your makeup is beautiful,
Your style is beautiful
And every scar on your arm is important to you
So don't pretend that what he thinks is more important than what you do
Love yourself, girl, because without you there would be no you

-E (c) 2017
A Tango Feb 2017
Feeling unhappy;
that I'm not good enough
Unconvinced and in despair,
Disbelief in my own
act and decisions

I am doing the best I could
to meet the expectations;
thus I am frustrated

Why am I putting
a lot of pressure on myself
just to seek attention?

I am trying hard
until gratified
Why am I still unfulfilled?

In fact, I am scared
I fear that I may fail
and may not reach satisfaction

It feeds my self-doubt
perhaps I am good-for-nothing
Leigh Marie Dec 2016
My dad loves me most when he's drinking
he cares about me transiently
so maybe thats why I
look for gyspy love
maybe I like the surprise of
not knowing if you'll love me tomorrow
or maybe it's just what
I deserve
Luis Ramos Nov 2016
Life's like a journey that never stops.
You're failing and learning and always moving on.
You're then joined by people whom you learn to love.
But ultimately...
Life's that walk, that you must go on your own.

Embrace this truth: you are expected to have faults.
But no more than all the virtues that you've got.
Never define yourself by the number of flaws,
but on your willingness to be better, and wanting to grow.

It is true there are yet some, who of this they don't know.
And could somehow even, make you question your own worth.
Don't be sad, don't resent, we each learn at our own pace.
And remember, true love always sees flaws, as only a phase.

Whenever he shows and in whatever his form,
by that true love, you'll then one day be joined.
But even then, remain aware ...
Life's that walk, that you must still go on your own.
Self worth and becoming aware of the meaningless nature of the word "alone" is a realization that we each need to have at one point of our lives. Without it it's impossible to take care of the person that's always present in our lives...ourselves.
tamia Oct 2016
i've always had a hard time loving myself
i guess it started with the way adults used to tease me about my chubbiness
and how sensitive i was as a child

after all, i've always had traits i never liked
chubby arms and thighs, a button nose
a mole on my right cheek, a sensitive heart
a wishy washy soul
i can't even draw

then one day,
i thought about how my skin healed after i burnt it really bad from hot water
and how my body kept me warm in the Tokyo breeze late at night in the spring weather
and how i've used these very hands writing this to wipe all my tears

and how my heart, in all its fragility
still fights on and loves
despite all the pains i've felt

and so i realized:
*if this very body of mine can love my soul
and fight to keep me alive and alright,
then it is only right that i love it and accept it
an entry from my journal
simo Oct 2016
im tired of trying my best for people who wont for me
im tired of feeling out of place in a place i never asked to be
I have not looked anyone in the eyes for weeks
living isnt living if you're losing

my mother asked me if i wanted to speak
i told her
i never want to have to speak
never wanted to be asked to speak
only statements can be said to me
questions make me seem weak
Ronnie Ron Sep 2016
I remember when you said
I could tell you anything
But as soon as you found out my truth
You treat it like its nothing
Don't even care bout my happiness
Don't even care that I'm gay
You said you love me
As long as I do things your way
My own blood don't like me
I thought y'all be my last resort
But y'all minds small like the *****
You tuck in your shorts
When family turns you away
Just because I am a certain way
Can't deal with this *******
Gotta pack my bags and runway

I keep askin myself
Is it really worth the pain
To stay with people
Who turns my sunny skies to rain
Like a flower out the ground
I'm tryin to spout
But when I get stronger
Like a **** you try to throw me out
God knows I love y'all
But I can't handle this situation
I'm takin my things
And headed to the train station
Start a new life and find a soul mate
One who'll love me for everything and that appreciates
How sometimes freinds and family
They all turn against me
Just cause we two kings makin love so beautifully


God knows how much
I love my family
But they just don't understand
Why me an man be holding hands
Try to keep me away from him
They even told the preacher bout him
But our love is stronger
Nothin they do will keep me from him
I love my man so much
I just wanna be where ever he is
I'll travel cross country just to feel his kiss
And best of all he loves me
Even when nobody else agrees
The love we make is hotter than 100 degrees
And maybe one day
Everybody we'll see what I see him
And why I left my blood
Just so I can be with him
Hi my name is Ronnie and I would like to submit a 380 word poem about the hardships related to members of the gay community
tamia Sep 2016
i'm sorry i look at you in disgust,
i'm sorry i hate you
even when you fight
so your bones don't break
under the burden of my being,
i'm sorry i'm always wishing
i were in some other body,
i'm sorry i neglect you
and think you're not enough,
i'm sorry i've bruised and scarred
what once used to be your pristine skin,
i'm sorry i tell you
you are not worthy and beautiful enough

i'm sorry i can't learn to love you
when you're all i'll ever have
RisingUp Sep 2016
I still remember that day
Visiting home after being away.

Rushing into the bathroom
Staring at the mirror
Not recognizing my appearance
Seeing a girl crippled with fear.

That horror.
I shall never forget
I cannot forget.
Then why do I still listen?

Today I stand in the mirror.
The thoughts circle in my head.
You're ugly, fat and stupid.
I don't think you deserve to be fed.

I wish I understood the neural circuitry
that initiated these thoughts
Wish I knew when my self esteem
Was clearly, fatally, shot

Or did it ever exist? Maybe not.
For as long as I can remember
Pretty?
I am not.

Avoiding mirrors
Holding back tears
Acceptance of the inevitable, ugly truth.

Other people are liked,
I'm a freak.
A geek
Not chic.

I wish I began working on this back then
To not have it stab me again and again

But the past is the past
I can only improve now
I want to rewire my brain,
But the question is how?
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