Glamour
Sex
Friends
Success
Tools
Plans
Curves you can push
up, out, or in
Being liked
Being wanted
Being admired
Doing something
Strength
Youth
Illusion of power
I know you think
you’ve been waiting for this
for a lifetime, babygirl
It isn’t what I said it was
It isn’t what it seems
Life began before thirteen
goes on past
twenty-three
Can’t hide anything from God
The people saw through me
Buying all the lies saying that you’ve gotta purchase
these upgrades, so you can sell yourself
Trying to live an image, touch an illusion,
instead loving free or well
Thinking you’ll have peace if you clutch to the fleeting-
“Maybe if, then, when, I’ll be okay”
Thinking you’ll have worth if you muster mirth,
insert magic into your memories
I know you think
you’ve been waiting for this
for a lifetime, babygirl
It isn’t what I said it was
It isn’t what it seems
Life began before thirteen
goes on past
twenty-three
Can’t hide anything from God
The people saw through me
Alphabet Ravine 
So good to read your poetry again, Lydia. As always, it has a depth beyond its simplicity which isn’t really simplicity; it just seems so to those who have never tried to write it!! I just pray some young ladies read this. Keep writing!
Love,
Mrs. Gibson
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Thank you very much! I’ve appreciated the tools you gave me to write poetry, as well as your “seeing” me and appreciating my poetry. It’s good for one’s sense of confidence and probably therefore productivity to have someone, especially a great English teacher, backing up their work! Regarding simplicity, I do find my poetry to be more accessible to the public than necessarily pleasing to the critics or mainstream.
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