Gaze of a Misshapen duck
A
bird left alone
shamed for his feathers
for his eyes for his beak.
Their gaze shaped him, it was Their gaze that shaped his own.
Wishing to
hide wanting to
flee to cry to drown to forget his own image,
"he's ugly," They said.
he saw himself worse than they saw him.
he grew to despise and resent his body
the thing that made him him
was destroyed by shrinking pupils
and furrowed feathers.
When you've never been looked at with love
how do (does) you (he) know how to (love) love?
A reflection in a pond
lilypad framed, by flys and dancing frogs.
He saw himself
His soft feathers
His tear stained face
His beautiful misshapen beak
He grew warm and weak,
felt small in his body and
loved it
He was beautiful