This is for the self-proclaimed "ugly" girls

inspired and written in the style of "shake the dust"

This is for the self-proclaimed "ugly" girls,
for the people who spend their nights cleaning airports,
This is for the pizza and ranch sauce crunchers,
for the boys who tremble when talking to girls,
This is for the addicted dads,
for the ones who have belt marks carved into their backs,
this is for the former prom queens,
for the parents who have to work past midnight,
simply to feed their children,
this one's for the girl who I met last sunday,
the one who spends days as a housekeeper,
but dear god she's only sixteen.
This is for the midnight lovers,
for the ones who honeymoon to Paris alone,
this is for the girls who lost their mothers to cancer,
for the broken English speakers,
for the boy who changes the pronouns in his poems,
This is for the ones our country turns against,
for the ones who are stereotyped by their appearance,
This is for the ones who lose at bowling parties,
for the single mother dealing with cps,
This is for the ones who seal their mouths closed,
who hide beneath shame and shattered reflections,


Do not let the heaviness of defeat weigh you down like you are a burden,
do not let the cruelness of your classmates step on you like damaged wallpaper,

Listen to your pulse, it is a reminder that your body is powerful enough to keep fighting,
You have not collapsed yet,
struggle is just a journey to freedom,
you'll trade blisters and a tired climb for a view of the world,

You stay silent in a crowd of people,
you forget the sound of your own voice,

Every time someone asks you your name,
you give it them,

scream it until it echos,
and it will echo,
feel the reverberations of your own sound,
it matches the power of any other,
nothing less than human,
do not forget your own importance,
do not let go of your own existence.