What if?

Words

People are so often described as
Something specific
Since they're children
I was smart
Very smart
But only smart
I always dreamed
of being called beautiful
For people to compare me
To great works of art
To say that my eyes
Put stars to shame

Originally
And for the longest time
I thought it was because
Everyone always always
Wants to be beautiful
But I realize now I was wrong

I want to be beautiful
Because I felt I needed
To be more than just smart

Two days ago
Three people came up to me
Specifically
To tell me I was beautiful

I almost cried

It's so strange
The effect words can have
As people
We end up
Working ridiculously hard
Just to add to our list
Our list of words
And we are never satisfied
Until we hear the one
That one word
You know the one
The one you'd dreamt of hearing
(From someone who isn't family)
Since you were small

And after that
We keep going
We keep trying to add
To our lists
To ourselves
We may never truly be satisfied

But I know
I will never forget
The day I was called
Simply
"Beautiful"