beauty in the heart of the beholder

She sits quietly
Waiting for class to start
And hoping nobody notices her.

She knows she doesn't fit in.
Her gait is awkward
Her clothes don't hang right
Her hair isn't becoming

Sometimes she feels that
she really doesn't have the right
To even exist.

And yet she goes to school
And she sits in her seat
And she does what she must
To survive.

There is really nothing wrong.
She's not abused,
She's just--different.

Her mother says that things will improve.
She didn't used to believe her.
But then--

One day,
Her mother showed her old photos
And there
In a chair
Was she!

But it wasn't, really.
It was her mother.
Equally gawky,
Equally awkward,

But so beautiful
and so loved
Now.

The remembered sight
gives her strength
to wait

and dream
of the future.