The Crime

Less than perfect is a crime

I expect too much in such little time

Perfect body, Perfect face

To me I’m simply a disgrace

Check once every hour

Want to feel pretty

Suck it in, pinch your thighs

Don’t smile and pinch your thighs

Loose the weight, have more fun

Imperfection is disgusting

It’s all so dumb

I look so dumb

Don’t breathe, don’t cry

You’ll break the law

And you can’t hide

Reviews

[R.E. Ray]

This poem reminds of Emerson’s essay, Self Reliance, not because he wrote the same... but the opposite. To him, nonconformity was a virtue. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” he wrote in part. I wonder if he’d say the same today, in the age of social media and 24-hour television, the age when everything is measured against the made-up, scripted world behind the silver phone and TV screens.

Your poem conveys a pain that others know well, and that’s sad, too.

[Ace Jaxon]

I've never read Emerson's essay, Self Reliance, but you make me want to give it a read. Thank you for the review.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

society's expectation of pretty...too much to achieve, we fall short...and then feel the felony of self-loathing...when it is really others who abet in the crime.
nice metaphor carried through this piece.
reminds me of the poem Barbie Doll...in theme.
love it.
j.

[HB Rita]

One of the social problem again.....self criticism brought a huge question for all of us if really we need to change for who we are right now! Sad but very meaningful poem.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Such a sad but all too common a problem set out in an emotive poem which conveys the desperate nature and the self loathing and self critisism some feel. this is fueled by the internet and TV, film and advertising.

[Ace Jaxon]

It's forced around us everyday, and many of us don't realize it's a problem until it's too late. Thankyou for the review.

[John the Baptist]

Has the sound of one who has bought into the world's standards of what is acceptable. Also may be the voice of one with eating disorders.

[Ace Jaxon]

It's about what society thinks of today and my personal struggle with eating disorders in the past, but I don't agree with its standards.

[John the Baptist]

Really glad to hear that.

[Ace Jaxon]

I'm trying my best not to get back into bad habits, so instead of doing them I write about them. Thank you for your review, I always appreciate them.