Our Impressionable Eyes

Our Impressionable Eyes

To Natalie:

Cheeks that outweigh the rest of my face,

are my defining feature.

To Thomas:

Bright but heavy hazel eyes,

are my defining feature.

To Jacquii:

Million dollar lips that could wear any shade,

are my defining feature.

Defined by my features.

If I try too much...if I don’t try enough...if I don’t try at all...

Defined by my choices.

First impressions are so powerful.

Imprisoned in a labeled box,

by different people

who always see me

in different ways.

To each of them,

I am something else.

Yet I feel like nothing more than just an exterior.

In seconds,

they handpick

my physical qualities, sort them out,

and as if I were a puzzle,

put me back together

to see the image

they have decided for me.

There is not a single thing we look for,

but deep in the pit of our minds we know

the assumptions

are already prepackaged.

Defined by how hard I try

to make myself look

...feel...?

more appealing.

We are left to fend for ourselves

but we wither away

in the same hole as everyone else.

Each of us sees the easy resolution:

don’t judge, don’t let features define.

But those same daggers

that were used to cut out of all the judgement,

dare to come back at night and stab us in the back,

because social nature

has already been established.

I do it. You do it. We all do it.

My features make you decide who I am

before you ever really see me.

I am so much more than just a nose.

I am so much more than just a size.

I am so much more than just a pair of eyes.

I am so much more than just what you see.

Please,

please don’t let my defining feature

be what keeps you

from knowing me.

Don’t let your impressionable eyes

kill away any other possibility

of what I could be.