Hello, you who judge me.
You who teach me how to be a mother
but forbid me from getting to know a boy.
You who look at me
as if I were already guilty,
without even knowing my story.
You who criticize my every move,
my every word,
my every silence.
You who say I sleep too much,
without knowing that some nights,
I barely close my eyes.
You who tell me not to eat too much,
then worry when my plate remains full.
You who reproach me
for spending too much time on my phone,
without seeing that I’m just scrolling through other lives
to forget my own for a few minutes.
But if, one day,
you took the time to really look at me…
You would see a girl who stops herself from loving
for fear of not being enough.
You would see a girl
who already judges herself harshly
every time she catches her reflection.
You would see a girl
who lowers her eyes
for fear that others might see
everything she tries to hide.
You would see a girl
who is afraid to speak,
afraid to be a bother,
afraid of being in the way.
You would see a girl
who wants to be perfect,
because she believes
that simply being herself
will never be enough.
You would see a girl
who overthinks everything,
who drowns in her own thoughts,
who cries when the world falls asleep
and no one is there to hear her tears.
You would see a girl
who forces herself to eat,
then blames herself for it,
as if even living
had to be earned.
You would see a girl
who hides her storms
behind a smile learned by heart. And perhaps then,
you would understand
that the deepest wounds
are often the ones
no one sees.
So before you judge me,
look at me.
Listen to me.
Understand me.
Because sometimes,
it isn’t strangers
who break us the most.
It is those
who bear the most beautiful name…
Those closest to us.