i saw a birdy

There used to be a time when I'd look at my face in the mirror - and I didn't like the face that was looking back at me.

There also used to be a time when it seemed as if love will only happen to you, if you happen to be a beauty queen. Oh yes, it did seem that way. The girls with the flawless skin, the shiny hair and the dangerous cleavage seemed to have that. That lurve thing. Never mind that their relationships were always short-lived and that it seemed that they were trading boyfriends among their circle of just-as-pretty girlfriends.

These days, I don't mind the girl I see in the mirror. She's a bit chunkier now, with a bit of a belly that sticks out. But those are just signs saying that she's curvier now and has a wonderful relationship with her food. The pimples have mostly gone, though left are the scars from the times spent picking on painful pustules. But I don't mind them so much. Because now I can see that within the skin of my 'self', lies an emerging entity that can be just as beautiful as the girls who are pretty on the outside.

And love? I don't think I am experiencing love just yet but surely, these affectionate feelings coming my way must be a way of telling me that I have grown to become... maybe a beauty queen? Nah, perhaps not. It just means that I am not THAT lame anymore. And that there are people out there who will cherish me with my flaws and all.

When you love me, that is when I shall truly become beautiful.