Read This. I Don't Want Any Excuses. Just Read It.

I just had to show ye this. I was roaming around the archives on Pink World (http://www.pink-world.co.uk/) and found this poem, by an author named Francesca Lia Block. Enjoy!

“…i always believed if i had blond hair, pixie face


big breasts

everything would be all right

not realizing that culturally idolized beauty

is not only foolproof

but potentially dangerous



if you believe in your own unconventional beauty

when you are young

you will accomplish twice as much and suffer half so



turn off lightbulbs and light a candle



walk don’t drive



plant a tree



wear sunscreen



dancing is an antidepressant



kindness is the new status symbol



every day please try to eat something green

and something orange

that grow out of the ground



tell me how mad you are

that your father and i parted

i will always listen

though i can’t ever take away the pain



expectations are for what you yourself create



they rarely work when applied to others



turn off the television



tv is a depressant



yoga is an antidepressant



don’t feel guilty about wanting pretty things



they would not be so alluring

if you weren’t supposed to want them

just don’t value them over compassion



use your words even when you are a grown-up

and people no longer think it is entirely acceptable

when you say, that hurt my feelings



if you can digest chocolate eat it sometimes



same goes for ice cream

(i don’t really need to tell you those things do i?)



do your homework because it is part of the game but



don’t spend too much time worrying about grades



fall in love with someone kind who loves your body

and your mind



if you have a dream that won’t let you go, that

tickles your solar plexus, heed it



turn dark feelings into paintings or poetry

or dancing



music is a kind of food



if you are sad talk to a happy woman who loves you

it will always help



move your body when you are sad or angry



avoid the following:

genetically modified ingredients

parabens

sodium lauryl sulfate

mercury in certain fish

neurotic thoughts about food

(is that a contradiction?)



love your curls though they tangle

your pale skin though it can burn in the sun

your nose though it is broader than some

your sturdy legs and feet



forget barbie she does not possess imagination



remember you are a botticelli angel



the planet we live on is perfection



love her like a goddess



love yourself as her daughter



there is a planet full of different kinds of beauty



the idea that only one type of woman is beautiful

is blasphemy



of everything i brought to the world in these

forty-five years

you and your brother are by far the most astounding



because of this i will always love your father



matter never vanishes, only changes



remember that when someone you love dies



your round head on my breast when you were born

is the memory

i will keep with me when i leave this body



when i am gone i will still be near you



this is how i know: when you were born

it was not a meeting

but a reunion…”