faces

in this country
we are taught which faces
are meant to love
and to be loved

for too many of us
those faces were
unlike our own
we could not recognize
love in our own mirrors
and could not reflect
it upon each other

some of us surrounded
ourselves with those
who look the way
we were taught we should

some of us just
avoided looking in mirrors
for too long

some of us used
surgical knives
to cut away those
parts we thought
unlovable

and some of us
left the lessons behind
and learned the many
variances of a loving face

allowing
length of nose
shade of skin
texture of hair
roundness of eyes
fullness of lips

to take a backseat
to emotion
which sits in a face
subtly

it requires that
we look
with more than
our eyes
so that we can
see past the
ugly lessons
planted in our minds

to see the loving,
the lovable,
in ourselves
in each other.