To A Young Girl

Listen closely, pretty girl, to these words.
Others will lie and say they are not true
and that you must focus your energy on
keeping that pretty look. But that is a lie.

You might think that you are less than
the girl with blue eyes or blonde hair
or clear skin or subtle curves on a skinny
frame. And it wouldn’t be your fault.

Listen closely, thoughtful girl, to these words.
That other girl isn’t more and you are not less,
you are both simply yourselves, young, hopeful,
and longing for a love that will make you feel
whole. Note that it is love that will make you feel
whole, but not in the way you think it will.
It will be love in the way that you think.

Right now you may think that her blue eyes
are oceans that invite so many to explore,
and yours a dark shadow of that, but yours
are rich forests full of mystery and life.
You may think her blonde locks are rays
of light shining on smiling and longing faces,
and that your strands are dull and flat lines,
but your brown silk holds the softness of petals.
And you may think her skin is a clear blue sky on
a sunny day, falling only on admiring eyes,
and that yours is a bumpy road no one would
care to travel down, but yours shows an honest
constellation of stars forming a picture of you.
And you may think her frame glides and sways 
with a soft prance leaving no trail behind her,
and that yours is a flat and barren terrain,
but your planes provide a straight view
of how one should walk by your side.

And both of you are beautiful, as are all 
other girls, but that isn’t even what matters.

Listen closely, creative girl, to these words.
Others will have told you to find your worth
in a mirror, but that is not the reflection 
to give you truth. You must instead reflect
on who you are and who you want to become
and there you’ll find all of the things that make you
irreplaceable, and all of the things that I love.
So think critically, clever girl, to cut out 
those careless lies and find that you’re valuable 
just as you are and always will be inside.