They’ll tell you to smile,

Sit still, look pretty

They’ll tell you to focus on your looks

That itty bitty waist

Your eyes, your lips

They’ll tell you

Your greatest treasure

Is the size of your body

The length of your legs

How much you cover up

How much you don’t

And it just begs the question

Am I only worth

How pleasing I look?

What about all the books I’ve read

My degrees, my awards

What about all the things I’ve said

And am yet to say

No.

My greatest treasure is not

The clothes I wear

My curves, my breasts

Because there is so much more

You’re yet to see

My greatest treasure is

The words I write

The stories in my head

Struggling to be the best version of me

My greatest treasure is

My friends, my love

My happiness,

And I believe

That there is so much more to me

Than the superficial stain of

External beauty

Because my greatest treasure might be

My lips, my hips and my stomach

But only for the multitudes they contain