I seen her looking in her mirror,
She was staring, glaring, inspecting
The face that looked back at her.
She was nit-picking at invisible spots,
Hoping her skin would be clearer.
She was pinching her button nose,
Wishing it looked like a model’s.
She would practice raising her eyes,
Thinking they were too low at her age.
She would redo her hair a million ways,
Even though it was perfect the first time.
I watched as she slowly moved down
Looking for more to scrutinise about herself.
She would suck in her stomach too much,
Then say she needed to lose some weight.
She would put on more fake tan,
Because she thought she was too pale.
She told me her thighs were too big
And how she wishes there were a gap.
Sometimes I wish she saw how I see her,
And that she wouldn’t look at models.
I wanted her to stop looking at magazines,
And celebrities with plastic surgery.
I wish I could tell her how perfect she was,
But I know she wouldn’t believe me.
I wish I could show her how pretty she was,
But she would rather listen to her conscience.
I’d speak up for once and tell her all this,
If I didn’t see myself in the exact same light.
If I told her how I felt about myself,
She would say there is nothing wrong with me.
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Author:
Emery Walker (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: July 27th, 2025 18:45
- Comment from author about the poem: Just wrote this about how the people around me always see themselves in a negative light whenever they see themselves in the mirror or photos. It is a shame that most people I know feel this way, even myself. How we’d listen to the voices in our head saying we aren’t pretty or handsome enough to ourselves, but we tell eachother how perfect we truly are, but can never see it. We are all hypocrites in a way which made me want to call this poem ‘Beauty is a hypocrite’ but I landed on what it is now. How we tell our friends and family how beautiful they are inside and out, but we can’t tell ourselves that, or see it in ourselves. Enjoy reading and thanks again for the comments, as said before I truly do love reading them but I don’t have the confidence to reply and personally thank everyone.
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 7
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Comments3
A poem of self condemnation and critique. It is hard on the person's appearance. Well done
The root of it all is that we are unable to see ourselves objectively. We carry stubborn ideas of ourselves in our heads.
“The eye that sees all things sees not itself.”
Sam Phillips : "3000 proverbs." New Delhi : Goodwill Publishing House, c 2017.
Full acknowledgements are made to the authors, publishers and rights-holders.
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Excellent work.
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