Dear my insecurities

Dear my insecurities,

I paint you on my body

with a warm embrace,

“I like myself” I tell you,

“what about yourself do you like?”

I open my mouth to answer,

“Everything,” I choke out.

You wear your crooked smile,

“Everything?”

I cannot meet your eyes,

“I like myself.”

Your glare bores its way into my bones,

seeping into the cracks of my skin,

wedging itself between my fingernails,

and worming its way in every crevice.

I find you lining my upper thighs

with jagged stretch marks,

I find you peppering my skin

with saggy wrinkles.

I find myself crumbling

with each flaw I cascade away,

I toss you away in favor in loving myself

But in the lowest of moments,

You trace your fingertips along my waist,

along the curve of my nose,

“Love yourself.”

“I’m trying.”

Sincerely,

Someone trying to love themself