Perception of the Self

A young girl looks at herself through a mirror’s silver eye

What she saw was so horrendous, she thought that she would die

A young boy looks at himself through the eyes of all his friends

They picked and they teased at the gimpy way he bends

Both saw those around them as one would see the gods

All their friends were flawless, beating all youth’s odds

They did not see the varying shapes, faces, and kinds of hair

Media never told them that those differences were there

Instead, they fed them man-made boxes that confine

Chains of expectations made by fake images online

A self-made polished prison that has no exit route

Where children go, led by aged hands, never to come out