Stretch marks

You always looked at them like battle scars

Told me that they made me stronger

That they told the story of my journey;

You always said that they were beautiful

That I was no longer that girl

And these marks were proof of that.

Then why do I hate them so much?

Why can't I live with them?

They're just stretch marks, right?

I used to be a thin girl

And then my body changed

In what felt like seconds

My body exploded,

Puppy fat, I was told,

Puberty is what it was.

Then that weight went away,

What was left behind was a curvy woman

With these white scars all over her body

And her mind burnt with insecurities.

And yet you tell me they're just battle scars

That they make me stronger

But they don't.

In gaining these marks, I lost myself

I lost that happy girl somewhere

I lost that confidence somewhere

I never made heads turn

I was never seen as pretty

And till date

The only thing people see

Is the parts of me that aren't skinny.