You wear filters like war paint,
But no matter how much you blur your face,
You’ll never erase mine
From his memory.
You edited your body,
Your voice,
Your worth -
Yet you still couldn’t airbrush your way
Into his heart.
Because I already own the deed.
You flirted in DMs like a tryout,
Thinking he’d forget the woman
Who made him feel alive -
But you couldn’t even make him feel anything.
He gave you a crumb.
You choked.
You begged him to love you,
While he whispered my name
In the silence between your forced selfies
And his disgusted thoughts.
I spat him out like expired gum,
And you tried to chew the flavor back in.
Cute.
Desperate.
Delusional.
He’s not a trophy.
He’s a souvenir.
A walking reminder of how strong I was
When I left.
Three years of begging,
Barking,
“Please just one more chance,”
Like a stray who forgot he was housebroken
When he had me.
You stitched your waist
Through a Snapchat filter
And called it reality -
But we both know
You’re a catfish in high contrast,
Hiding three extra dress sizes
Behind artificial light.
You shrink the image
But can’t shrink the truth -
That no matter how small you crop yourself,
You’ll never fit
Into the shape he still sees when he dreams of me.
You paint your face,
Distort your voice,
Post your lies,
All for a male
Who only texts you when I say no.
And him?
The stray dog I declawed,
Degraded,
And denied -
He keeps crawling back
Every time I slam the door
With another “no thanks.”
Pathetic.
But me?
I walk in untouched,
Unfiltered,
Unbothered -
The room doesn’t just stare,
It shifts.
I’ve been crowned by silence,
Not selfies.
Admired in whispers
And envied in screams.
You tried to compete -
But I am the blueprint.
Where you edit,
I radiate.
Where you seek approval,
I command attention.
Where you shrink,
I expand.
Your insecurity is loud.
My strength?
Unspoken - and undeniable.
I don’t need a ring light.
I am the light granted.
He called me his first love,
His only real one -
And told you that out loud
While you spiraled into
A self-harming breakdown,
Because deep down,
You knew he meant it.
I don’t feel bad.
I feel empowered by Allah.
You both deserve each other:
The catfish and the clown.
One hiding behind filters,
The other hiding from reality.
Both orbiting around a woman
They’ll never touch again.
You wanted to compete?
This wasn’t a race.
It was a reckoning.
So keep playing house
With the male who chases me
Like a lost child,
And keep cropping your body
Like it’ll crop me out of his mind.
I’m not coming back.
I already won.
He dragged my past like chains,
Thinking he could choke me with it -
Used my old wounds like weapons,
Desperate to make me hate myself
Because he could never stand
How much I loved me.
He wanted me smaller.
Quieter.
Ashamed.
But I spat out his guilt
Like poison on my tongue.
You don’t get to weaponize
What I’ve already outgrown.
You don’t get to bury me
In dirt I bloomed from.
He thought my flaws were fatal -
But all they ever did
Was make me dangerous.
I rise because I choose me.
Every. Single. Time.
Even when it hurt.
Even when he begged me
To dull my shine
Just so he could feel tall beside it.
But I don’t kneel for men.
I kneel for my Lord - Allah.
And He gives me strength.
The Lord draped His mercy over me
Like armor -
And no insult, no lie, no tactic
Can pierce what He’s blessed.
I am His servant.
That’s why I’m beautiful.
That’s why I’m untouchable.
That’s why you’ll choke
On every attempt
To reduce me.
You tried to desecrate a woman
Guarded by His grace.
Now you’ll live with that sin
Etched into your shadow.
They talk behind my back -
Exactly where they belong.
Mouthing envy in shadows,
Only to surface when
My beauty blinds them in person.
Then suddenly, they stutter praise
Like confessionals,
“You look so beautiful - as always.”
As if their tongues forgot the venom
They spilled behind closed doors.
Hoping I’ll bless them back -
But I don’t give charity to cowards.
Their desperation for my approval
Amuses me.
They crave my validation
Like water in a drought,
But I leave them thirsty -
Watching me glow
With nothing but God-given beauty.
No edits. No filters. No fraud.
Just radiance they can’t replicate,
And a silence louder
Than anything they’ll ever post.
Even he noticed it.
That’s why he crawls back -
He misses what was real.
Other males stare with hungry eyes,
Hearts heavy with yearning -
All of them starving
For what he failed to keep.
But I don’t feed beggars.
Their desire stays unmet,
Their fantasies malnourished,
Because no one -
Not one soul on this earth -
Deserves a diamond like me.
Cut by struggle,
Drenched in confidence,
Guarded by God\'s grace.
I am not for the taking.
I am for the watching -
From afar,
Where they all belong.
- JJ