for the last ten years
i have been thinking
if i should make
my teeth prettier
and i always decided
to leave them ugly
because i do not want
people to like me
because i am pretty

in spite of being
naturally pretty and charismatic
i work very hard
at being ugly and obnoxious
so when people
want to do something with me
i know it is because
i am the best at what i do
and not because
i am pretty and charismatic

so many people
give up on saying what they think
because for them finding pretty words is too hard.

they are shamed
for being emotional and inarticulate
into being a voiceless.

this is one of the biggest tragedies
because their thoughts are not heard
by their family and friends.

we should work harder
on helping people to express themselves
in any way and style they can.

after two decades
of writing poems
i am still not sure
if i should write numbers
as digits or words

when read silently
the brain hears numbers
in both cases
the same way

it is easier to read digits
but maybe not so pretty