Beauty in Ten Thousand Steps

I flip through magazines

Drenched with fragrance

And tips, tricks, hints, rules

Training me how to enhance—

Plump, slim, perfect, correct,

Fix myself in an instant—

Ten thousand steps to beauty

That only lasts a moment—

Hair extensions sleek like silk,

Suntanned skin smooth like milk,

Perfect curves like Photoshop,

How many pounds I need to drop

Before the imperfections

Stop.

I step into a city

Drenched with hope

And dreams, goals, dares, deeds

Training me how to step up—

Break in, reach out,

Change the world in a heartbeat—

Ten thousand steps to beauty

That isn’t even about me—

Homes rise up from lonely grounds,

Chains break as freedom sounds,

Pain is touched, healed, and mended,

Oppression beat, weak defended

Until injustice has been

Ended.

Would you rather take

Ten thousand steps to beauty

In front of the mirror

Or out in the city?