Her Worries

With the gentle touch of age, she worried, day by day

The smudged wrinkles sharpened, her legs felt weak

Her graying hair piled in loops on her wooden chair

Her eyesight drew sighs of unease

 

"Tell me", she pondered to her young son

"Tell me, will I ever be beautiful, if I was ever to be so?" 

"Ma" he answered, "You are too beautiful to ever be more"

 

Her back stooped, though it wasn't quite the age

She resigned to the melodies of the nightingale

in her terrace. She lived, worrying about her figure

She exhausted her mind with her frantic endeavors

 

"Tell me", she pondered to her young son

"Tell me, have I grown too old to understand this new world?"

"Ma" he answered, "You are grown enough to engulf the world with your wisdom"

 

As days flew, her insecurities grew:

Nailpaint, fancy clothes- nothing could change her mind

Her mind diluted to soft slivers of grief

As she mourned the past, missed her youthful self

 

Her obsession progressed to frenzy, as she worried more and more

But her son continued his chant, 

"You are beautiful, ma. The most beautiful person, for me"

 

---

Unfortunately, she died an unconvinced, early death

Unaware that her son's love made her beautiful

So she died, unknowingly wrapped in his love

In the world that shrunk her morale.

Author's Note

I tried to make this simple, so that the reader would focus more on the message.

So basically, the message here is that we tend to lose our self esteem as we compare ourselves to others. However, the reality is that, our insecurities are pointless because we would always seem beautiful to the ones we love, because their love causes them to see our inner beauty, and the opinions of our beloved is what matters the most. We live everyday worrying about our looks and personality, but it's important to know that each person is different. Each person is beautiful in their own way. And, as long as you love, you'll always be beautiful.

Reviews

[GunMetal]

It's a shame that some of us cannot see past the surface and observe the beauty inside. This reminded me a lot of Buddy Wakefield's Jean Heath, which touches on a similar message in a similar way.
You're beautiful for writing this. Thank you for sharing. It's wonderful.

[Ink Angel]

I agree with July on this one the last stanza, its a wonderful write but the end stanza it seeems to top the flow... somehow. Thank you for sharing.

[Dream Mistress]

:)

[JC]

i liked the description as much as the poem itself, very true, very lucid, very insightful..you seem like a ponderer...

[yusuf]

sad and beautiful!

[Jasmine]

This is great, really.... until you begin the the last stanza with "unfortunately" - sounds a little too detached, from such a heartfelt emotional poem.
Tweak that and you've got yourself a wonderful write.

[K-mo]

This is so good, love the message which is very clearly shown!

[Allie]

You have a beautiful outlook on life, opinions and self-esteem. Now if only I could feel this good about myself. I find my loved ones beautiful but I don't feel beautiful to my loved ones. This makes me want to change my views because I don't want to die thinking I'm and old hag.

[Renée]

This is stunning ! Everyone should read this and take the message to heart !
Stunning Piece you wrote !
it reminds me of a quote from a movie..." A woman is only beautiful when she is Truly Loved"..

[quixotic_rose]

awe, this is such a sad story of the most powerful unconditional love. Some people are too vain to ever live with their ageing selves, sad but true with certain people. A families love is also something to be cherished, it saddens me that she died without fully comprehending how much her son truly loved her. nice write :)

[Coyote Poetry]

I like this story of love. Eyes of child for his beautiful mother gave life and vision for the reader. I like the flow of the poem. I like how you ended the poem. Real beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Thank you for sharing the outstanding poem.
Coyote