The Office

It was in an office far from home

The walls were lime and the couches uncomfortable

Ready for another hour of talking about myself

It was always so cold in the waiting room

It was a tuesday after class

I got there early

There was a magazine on the table

With pretty women on the cover

It was what I didn't look like

The perfections I'll never have

The smooth skin and glossy hair

The pictures were haunting

It was on page 22

That magazine with the pretty pictures

There was a poem

Wrote by a girl my age

It stung to read her words

They were too relatble

Her troubles identical to mine

She was struggling too

It was the poem that made me realize

Everyone is going through something

No one is perfect

And every one just wants to be loved

It was that hour where I shared the poem

And the doctor told me that I was normal to feel sad

She let me keep the magazine

And I read it again when I got home

It was hard to transition

To thinking happy thoughts about my body

But I would re-read the poem

And remember that it's okay to love myself

It was a year later

And I had to write a poem

About the poem that changed who I am

I am happier now

I am thankful for the words of others