When younger girls
Or girls my own age even
Say I'm pretty
Say that I'm what they strive for
I feel my eyes burn
When I smile and thank them
Because as I rush my thank you's
I want to tell them
You don't have be pretty
You don't have to
Cake your face the way I do
To cover up my sins,
And the exhaustion
The exhaustion
Of carrying my own weight
And others too
You don't have to be pretty, to be beautiful
Because the amount of love that grows within you
The brilliance that you find in yourself
The strength you pull from
Will always amount to more
Than an airbrushed face and curled up hair
When you grow up, I hope you're resilient
I hope you're strong
I hope you're so much more than pretty
