Make your heart the prettiest thing about you

Suffocate individuality
Under a pillow with leftover mascara
From the night before,
I never wore Adidas as a fashion statement,
Couldn’t ever afford the cost
Of a dentist appointment.
Never got a flower
I wouldn’t tear apart
For the lady packing groceries
At the closest quickie mart.
Look me in the eyes
And tell me you don’t see beauty
In the way I giggle compliments
Out crookedly
Like a pair of mismatched socks that go perfectly together.
Not a day goes by that I don’t think about imperfection.
The ideal body instead an empty box
Wrapped with silk ribbon and red velvet paper,
Wondering why this maker in the sky
Decided to put a tooth on the top shelf
Of my smile.
Why I look at beauty standards like limbo
But the bar is skimming the floor, and everyone is just going lower and lower,
And I was the only one who wanted to step over it.
Why when I meet someone, my toes curl
And my heart hurls
A million reasons why someone could love them.
I am not a neck breaker,
Just a hand shaker.
I won’t knock the wind out of you
But I’ll give you my jacket.
I’ll give you my last fruit and leave myself
With an empty basket.
I don’t turn heads, I twist minds.
Heart strings in my hands
Drip like watermelon rinds
Because I make you feel inside.
It’s low tide, but the waves are rising.
Your scared of genuine but it’s sweet like icing,
I’m enticing but on the inside where it counts.
I’m the type of person you can’t live without
Because of the words that are formed by my mouth.
A plethora of color and
A touch of grey,
A sunset after the longest day,
Open mind molded with clay
But crafted with fingertips so delicate
You wouldn’t think that lily pads could float.
Raise a toast to the strangers on the street,
Say kind things to every person you meet
Because they are me.
They are us.
Unconventional at best,
Giving whatever I can to the rest
But I can only send you home with this;
The beauty from your heart
Is an eternity of bliss.