Gerilyn Marin

(Okay, this is the first poem I've written in nearly two decades, so please be kind ^_^. I didn't even mean to get back into poetry, this just popped into my head and I knew I had to write it, and hoped it was worth sharing) BEAUTY IS NOT By Gerilyn Marin I submit to you that beauty is not a color. It is not a shape. It is not a weight. It is not a length of hair, nor a shade of locks. Beauty is within. It is a feeling. It is an essence. It is an air, A grace, A state of mind. If a person seems to possess none, Then I submit to you that you do not truly know them. You know not the battles they've fought. You know not the scars their hearts bear. You know not the burdens they carry with a smile. You know not the harsh realities Which have carved the hard edges you call Ugly. I submit to you that if you cannot find beauty in another, Then perhaps the fault lies in you.

Every now and again in life, we come to what seems a difficult decision, but once we've made that decision, we realize it wasn't hard at all, and we're perfectly at peace with the new path we've just created for ourselves. I've just reached one such juncture. As I watch author friends gush over this award and that list placement, I'm excited for them, but at the same time I realize that I don't mind not being there, ya know? I always knew I was going to have a tough go of it due to the limitations I place on myself because my suffocating social anxiety. Yes, I just admitted I place them on myself. No, that doesn't make them easier to overcome. I always worried I was going to miss out on something because I couldn't force myself to speak up, or reach out to this person, or that entity, or because self-promotion after a while makes me feel like I'm just slapping people in the face with my book. Those feelings were a heavy burden. Until I realiz...