I dare you to look

_____

don’t tell me i’m pretty
don’t praise me for looks
when fleeting faces
get averse by ages
get colder shoulders
when years go by
don’t try to hide now

i dare you to look
beyond the surface
and into me
what is it you truly see?

_____

We were in a hostel in Nazca. I felt gross cause I had just been on a bus. Instead of showering and doing something about it, I was complaining. And Mike, sweet as he is, said: ‘‘Don’t you dare worry about it, you are gorgeous.’’ I frowned and said: ‘‘Don’t lie to me.’’ To which he responded: ‘‘I am not lying. I think you are pretty.’’  And that’s when I wrote this.

Read more about my time in Nazca here.