Pretty Enough
Location
When I die
Could you please not put any makeup on my face?
That game is for the living
And I have hit death- the most natural part of life
So let my body join my soul in this freedom
Let my body be natural for once
Let my naked face be seen
When I am dead, let me be me.
I've spent years reaching out for this socially constructed
IDEA OF BEAUTY
I put so much time into trying to be pretty enough
Smart enough, small enough,
But enough is never ENOUGH in life
Well here I lay, dead as can be
And you still try
to make me look
Pretty.
Strip my face clean and let every flaw show
Every wrinkle and scar beings to my skin
The larget organ of the body, I've learned to live in
It can now decay and let come out as I am
As BONES and MARROW and HEART and SOUL
and so
So much more...
But you'll still paint my face when I am dead
To make me pretty enough for the funeral
Every flaw on this skin will be covered
Because strip this face bare and
Even in death,
It isn't pretty enough
The last they'll see of me will sttill be a lie
Just like it was in life.