Uh, hi. Yes, yes I did just poof for like two months. Don't know if anyone noticed but... Yeah. Anyway, the theme inspired me, so here I am again! Also, September, I absolutely LOVE your poem!

standards

they say

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

they say

be who you are for who you are is beautiful

but they also say

beauty is effort. beauty is pain

they smirk

glass teeth nearly identical

shining in an ice mask

foundation lipstick eyeshadow concealer mascara eyeliner blush repeat

because it’s impossible for girls to just

look good without makeup

perfect

never really was flexible

the rules are written out, defined like abc

hourglass figure, 36-24-36

and tears behind shielded windows (you can’t let them see the mascara run)

wondering when perfection started being an expectation

clean-shaved legs

don’t let them see the drops of blood

don’t let them hear the gasp of pain

cutting deeper coming closer

spend ten hours just to make it all seem

effortless

actions speak louder than words

they say

but words sting deeper 

than a slap in the face

too skinny too short too tall too fat too plain

this is what we must be therefore this is what we are

but when 

did girls become nothing more than dolls?

and why 

are we surprised when they are treated like objects when that is exactly

what we teach them to be?

nothing more than a toy with the perfect face

a culture of hypocrisy

breeding clones that pride themselves on being unique

where a girl can’t be different 

without being questioned

no one really wonders why beauty should ever be defined

and why there is even such a thing as 

standards

Oh my, you all are fantastic poets! This is probably one of my favorite themes so far.

Alright, I finally wrote something!

optimism

i. i was once a girl with

milky eyes and a ceramic frown,

metaphorically,

my brain was a broken metal

detector and i was noticing the 

wrong things

ii. everything was so not okay

not okay and if you've

been in a half empty glass like 

me you'll know it's

hard to get out of

iii. i think the question is not

whether the glass is half full or half empty,

but what you choose to fill

it with, poison or sweet tea?

(my advice- choose the latter)

iv. the portrayals of our futures as

a scorching dystopian half-life and

people everywhere

who are smarter stronger

prettier skinnier funnier

better better better and

the weight of being human and flawed,

v. it is so hard to be happy. i know.

vi. but how can you be sad when

people win lotteries every day and

we wear metals and stones

on our bodies and the sun exists everywhere

in the world and people have painted

for 40,000 years and dogs wag

their tails because they

love you so much i love you so

much so remember

vii. there is so much good here.

our world is so good, our

futures are what we make them, choose

to have eyes that are

alive instead of

blind

viii. beauty is a choice-

do you see it or not? 

Leafy, do you think I could enter a different poem for the contest? Thanks! 

And here we are, with the results!

Honorable Mention goes to Bluebird! I loved the metaphors you put in your poem.

Third Place goes to Booksy--great job on this, I love "actions speak louder than words/they say/but words sting deeper/than a slap in the face". 

Second Place goes to Leeli. Leeli, this is an amazing poem. To quote Epic Fangirl, "I like how it speaks not of present beauty, but of the beauty of memories and that of knowing something long enough that you can see the beauty in it, even if no one else can."

And in first place we have Ashlee G.! Her poem is so beautiful. I love it so much! Congratulations, Ashlee, you win and you deserve it.