Mother smiles
Beams with pride
When she boasts about
Perfect daughter.
Father sees her grades and gasps,
He’s so proud he tells everyone
As soon as he can.
They love perfect daughter.
Perfect friend,
She is stunning and thin.
Everyone loves her jokes
And her high spirits.
“She is always happy” they say
She nods with a smile
But inside
She shakes her head sadly.
“So perfect” everyone says
And beautiful
And calm
And bright.
She makes everyone happy
She couldn’t be more perfect.
Perfect daughter,
Perfect sister,
Perfect friend.
But inside, she is being strangled
By the smiles she fakes
And the lies she tells.
She despises every inch of her perfect body,
She loathes the deepest depths of her soul.
Her unhappiness consumes her,
She spirals out of control.
You see, this perfect girl,
She’s not perfect at all.
She’s just good at pretending