Love me

Love me not

Who do I want to love me?

Me or Them?

It’s one or the other;

This I’ve learned.

Their words- sharp lies- cut deeper than any knife

Forming jagged wounds, spreading the

Infectious poison down to my soul.

The scars have turned me into some

Unworldly being.

To the point where

I don’t even know my reflection anymore

It’s so marred.

My hair’s got to be just right.

I have to wear make-up

But not too much

Or that’s not right either.

I have to be skinny.

I have to be tall.

I have to be elegant and graceful and flowing and

Perfect.

Who cares about me?

I mean, the real me.

The one that’s buried deep down in those

Hollow blue eyes

The one that used to shine

Before They crushed my light.

But no one cares

Until it’s Them

Staring at the mirror wondering:

Whose face is that

Staring back?

Who’s that walking corpse

With empty eyes and

Tears of red

Running down their skeletal cheeks?

No one cares until it’s Them

Who bleeds just to know They’re alive

And no one cares

Until it’s Them who realizes

This isn’t living.

It’s surviving.

~          ~          ~

Destroy me

Destroy me not

Until They feel the pressure

They know nothing.

They only know that They

Need

To put others down just to feel good,

They can’t truly appreciate

The sunsets, the laughter, the miracles

The beautiful, blissful moments

Because They don’t know what

It’s like to cry.

They don’t know what

It’s like to hurt.

They don’t know the fear and the fight.

There’s no struggle to compare to the joy

They only lead half-filled lives

Of belittling and violence

And They’ll never know peace

Until something changes.

So much hatred, so much pain.

I may not be the best.

I may have ripples and flaws.

I may not be perfect.

I may not be who

They

Want me to be.

But that’s okay.

Because, even though They tried to break me,

I am strong.

I have no more tears left to cry.

From my struggles, I know

Happiness

Love

Hope

Resilience

Freedom

I know how to feel.

Darkness gives meaning to light.

Oppression gives meaning to freedom.

Hatred gives meaning to love.

I know this to be true.

But

They only know one side of the equation.

And that’s not living.

That’s surviving.