Proud

Words can hurt more than anyone else could know,

You live your life to please those around you,

Don't say you don't care, but you know you do.

You need someone's approval, someone to be proud

To call you a friend, sister, brother, son, or daughter.

You do your best to hack away at yourself,

Strive towards their view of perfect for you.

One slip-up, and you get,

"You are worthless!"

And it stings, and it hurts, and it burns,

Straight on through to the core of your being.

And of course you'll cry, and you'll want to scream,

You need to know that at least someone loves you,

Don't be a little rebel, don't be a little cutter,

Can't help it can you?

You need the attention, to see your accomplishments,

Or so you think they are.

Let's give out little hints, little lies, to make someone look your way,

Let's tell a little fib just so they can keep prying you open.

Open up.

Tell them anything you can so they could listen.

Keep them close to you, so close.

Because who else could ever be proud of someone far from perfection?

Who else could love someone like you?

My opinion is,

When the going gets tough, keep going.

Strive to be someone that someone else can be proud of.

Because your whole life will be filled with pleasing others.

At times, it'll be as if you're living life in someone else's expectations.

Which is exactly what life is.

Live for the moments, those small, brief moments,

That you can be and act for yourself with no one else caring,

Those times are precious.

Because they can be over in a snap, in the blink of an eye.

And you go back to the same routine,

Of living to be praised, to be loved.

By people who probably want to use you,

But hey,

Make them all proud right?

Yes,

Just smile, and nod,

And fit into the rhythm

To make the person listening to the song,

Proud.

Reviews

[Chris Barker]

This is a great piece! "Words can hurt more than anyone else could know," drew me right into the poem! Keep up the great work!

[Fabian Franco]

This is a good piece.
A lot of detail and very truthful.
It is direct but it still needs some thinking.
Good job and keep it up. :)

[Vicky Zhuang Yi-Yin]

Aw, this was one of those pieces that actually do pierce the heart. It is very truthful, and I think everyone can relate to such a write. In the end all people can do to make themselves feel happy is to be proud of their accomplishments and when that doesn't work, they do tell a fib just as you said. I loved the simplicity and truthfulness of your work. Thank you so much for sharing it. Good job. Good Writings.
-Yin