Perfection Hurts Poem by Jade Darrow

The girl you see standing there, talking to her friends. I bet you didn't know she's depressed. The smile you see on her face is fake. She lives with every regret in her life. She seems so perfect on the outside but it's the inside that matters. She's fighting off her inner voice but it's winning. "Take the blade, " it whispers, "press it to your skin. Draw on your arms with your favorite blood red color."
No one pays attention to what you're fighting off inside. All that matters is what's going on, on the outside. Perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect laugh, perfect everything. Don't they know how stressful it is to try to be perfect? Perfection hurts everyone. You never see of it. You never hear of it. But perfection hurts.
The boy that you see standing in the sidelines, he has no one to turn to. No one to save him. He doesn't see the light. He doesn't believe in faith. He has no smile on his face. He fights with life every single day. He's fighting off his inner voice but it's winning. "Take the gun, " it yells, "press it to your head. Disappear from this world. No one liked you anyway."
No one pays attention to what you're fighting off inside. All that matters is what's going on, on the outside. Perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect laugh, perfect everything. Don't they know how stressful it is to try to be perfect? Perfection hurts everyone. You never see of it. You never hear of it. But perfection hurts.
I hear them in my head. Nothing seems to be pulling me to safety. "Take the blade, " it whispers, "press it to your skin." "Take the gun, " it yells, "press it to your head." I could hear them screaming, to get away from perfection. Take my life away and stop causing everyone pain. No one's here to save me. No one's here to rescue me. This is what perfection has done to me. I'm fighting off my inner voice…but it's winning.
No one pays attention to what you're fighting off inside. All that matters is what's going on, on the outside. Perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect laugh, perfect everything. Don't they know how stressful it is to try to be perfect? Perfection hurts everyone. You never see of it. You never hear of it. But perfection hurts.
Why must we have perfection? If it's killing us singlehandedly? What's the point of living? If we must have perfection? We're fighting off our inner voices…but they're winning…