BURN (Wattys2015?)

her mother tells her she's pretty

her mother tells her she's pretty

just like all mothers do

but sometimes she doesn't believe it

because it's something all mothers do

her mother tells her what looks good

and what doesn't, what isn't attractive

her mother says "don't do that, the boys won't like you"

and "don't wear that, what boy would like you?"

like the greatest achievement on earth is finding someone

who will think your pretty

but only if you're wearing something that's tight around the waist

and accents the color of your eyes

her mother tells her she's pretty

and all the people around her start to tell her, too

and she begins to worry about what will happen when

she starts to wrinkle, and people won't let think she's so pretty anymore

she begins to think of her face and body as her greatest aspect

as the only aspect worth anyone's time

if her face and body weren't there, maybe she'd be worthless

people probably wouldn't like her and compliment her as much

because they always say you have a pretty face and pretty hair

but never a "pretty personality"

her mother tells her she's pretty

and she feels like it's her mother's way of saying,

"honey, hold on to what you got because it's all you got"

even if her mother didn't say it,

it's written all over her face

her mother tells her she's pretty

and she begins to always wonder

if she's pretty

because she needs to be pretty

if she's not pretty, what is she?

ugly

and her mother won't love that

her mother tells her she's pretty

just like all the boys who wanted to get her to bed

but she doesn't like the way they all looks at her

and she wants a paper bag over her head

she doesn't like the hungry eyes or greedy hands

she doesn't like the way girls look at her, either

their faces full of jealousy and their mouths sealed shut

because they don't like the way the boys look at her, too

so maybe if they shun her and talk about her and spread lies

she'll go away and the boys can call them pretty instead

her mother tells her she's pretty

but she cries and pulls at her hair and face

because she doesn't want to be pretty anymore

it's not worth it, it's too much

the world wants to be pretty so badly

but they don't understand that being pretty

is ugly

and it hurts