Self-discovery

All my life I’d tried in vain

To metamorphose into the ideal

Woman as I’d seen again and again

Described in books or captured on reel

Right off the bat had I realized

Some crucial features I did not possess

I lacked the requisite height or the prized

Luxurious hair, with which God did not bless

So I tried to work with what I was given

Tried to slim down to the ideal size

But the ideal figure that I could envision

Would never be mine, woefully did I realize

I tried my best to behave in a manner

Befitting a female member of my society

Trying to create an aura of subtle glamor

Was a concept so foreign, it provoked some anxiety…

**

I was unhappy with myself, felt defeated

I could never be the ideal woman I epitomized

When I tried to emulate her, my soul felt cheated

That ideal must be wrong for me, I finally surmised

**

Yes, I could be quite loud and opinionated

My manicure would be chipped off before it had dried

My hair would never stay in their place designated

My mascara would run over as if I had cried

Extra slabs of fat clung to me tenaciously

Glamor and I had no relation whatsoever

So I accepted that this was me, graciously

And shifted my focus to what I could do better.

**

Devoid of illusions I tried to explore 

My strengths that did not match that ideal

And to my surprise I found many more

Talents within me, things I could now feel

It took me some time to accept that I was

A nonconformist in more ways than one

And it was all right to be who I was, because

I was the best I could be, instead of a mere imitation!