beauty.
usually that word is compared with flowers
so delicate, small, and without blemish.
this is so only a select few
can fit under the category of beautiful.
but, why can’t
we be beautiful like a tree or rock or river?
they are very beautiful
yet no one cares to notice.

a tree
has leaves that fall like teardrops
because no one seems to notice her.
with a tough outside,
she stands rooted strongly as the pain
and lies that she’s not beautiful overwhelms her.
to most, she seems normal
with nothing special about her.
her rough bark keeps onlookers from
reaching within and seeing all her scars.
this way,
they can’t rip off the carefully placed bandages
that cover her wounded heart.

a rock
is small but still strong.
she is kicked from place to place, the road
always chipping away at her strength.
the sunlight hits a part of her
that shines with a glittering light. but
no one cares.
she’s just a rock. they’ll never
notice her beauty.

a river
flows; always running and never stopping to rest.
she is called dirty and impure for the things
that others have done to her.
no one reaches deep within to see that she is
just as beautiful
and crystal clear as any other body of water not yet
destroyed by the world.
and so on and on she runs.

these
may be broken but their beauty
shows through to me perhaps even brighter
than that of a flower.