i am not designed for this world of
radical individualism and
indulged selfishness,
i am not built for its people
so callous and cruel
are we so starved for attention
we post our flesh on screens
so palms can grip tighter
and thumbs can tap hearts
do we so badly need to be wanted
we abandon our brains
and pout our lips
so we can feel more
more validated
more beautiful,
we all want to feel beautiful,
but beauty doesn’t matter
because it’s ever-evolving
and swiftly lost
and only ours to borrow for a brief moment
and it doesn’t matter how much of it we have,
we will still be crushed
our kind eyes made to water
in the pursuit of
more beauty
fresh beauty
new beauty
as though aesthetics mean anything at all
we give our bodies away
and call it empowerment
but I’m yet to feel any type of power
any kind of real potency
from a man who trades body parts
before thoughts from the heart
we all hope we are beautiful
but maybe we should desire to
be beautiful of soul,
and mind
beautiful in gestures,
and generosity
beautiful because of how we make people feel
and maybe even how we make them think,
not because of
a smile
or some hair
real beauty is found in
selflessness,
and originality,
in empathy,
and fortitude
but those traits don’t deliver dopamine hits
and they don’t appear on the screen
shiny
silky
swollen