I looked in the mirror and saw what they couldn't see.
The glass became a reflection of all I've never wanted to be
My hands trembled; I held my grip,
but the mirror shattered into a million pieces.

At the bus stop, everyone was looking at me,
for they also saw all they wanted to be
And in those tiny shards, their faces twisted into anger and despair.

They took those pieces,
held them tightly until blood ran down,
and the frown turned to millions of despaired smiles.

They had finally carved out the perfect piece
And it was everywhere.

He took the ruler and measured it
It was 2mm
He took note of that
He measured another,
this one was 2mm too long,
He took the protractor,
5 degrees off.
He was acutely aware of how much work had to be done

With the hammer ready, he started hacking away
A feeling of excitement washed through him
It was going to be perfect, so he thought

Thousands were doing it; it could be done
his hacking became more hopeful with each strike
He was doing it and once it was done,
rest was sure to follow

Time passed; he worked
Time passed; he hacked
Time passed; he hoped
Time passed; he finished.

A feeling of relief was spiking his body
The spikes had reached his brain
He was ready once again
He took out the measuring tape, the protractor, the hammer
He measured, he carved, he hacked

The spikes had now more space to move,
He no longer needed to hack, measure, or carve
It was being done for him.

with the chase for relief part of his body,
he no longer needed to worry,
It would always become perfect,
the fuel would never run out,

so he measured, he hacked, he carved.

The crowd clapped as the roaring of lights flickered
the contest was won, her parents proud, her friends a little jealous
She had grown up to be beautiful, the embodiment of it

Only once, a judge gave her a sub-par score of 7 out of 10
That evening, the critics flew in
She no longer had what it takes

It was only a one-time occasion, her mother said
that judge is crazy, you're perfect and you will always be, said the grandmother

Mary agreed, but deep down something had shifted.

3 points;
She took 3 points from me
Her dad believed in hard work
She had to get them back

Samantha was a friend, the second prettiest girl besides Mary
Mary carved out her flesh, millimeter by millimeter
It was a very meticulous and grueling task,
but her dad believed in hard work

When the slicing was done, the pasting was to come
A bit of flesh here, a bit of flesh there
all had to be transferred, all had to be perfect

With her new-found beauty, she stood on stage
When all judges gave her their score
No slicing could be her saving grace

On that night, Mary took 3 pills
And wasted away on her parents' bathroom floor.