Ariana Pataki Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

Spoken poetry!! I wrote this a few weeks ago but never posted it. It’s based on what I hear every day when I talk to my friends.  

Why is everyone creating problems out of things that shouldn’t even be problems? Like our bodies. They’re literally our home, the one thing that’s ours from the start, and yet we’re so quick to tear them apart.  

Learning to stop comparing myself to others was a game-changer. It didn’t happen overnight, but when it clicked, everything felt different. My body isn’t a competition or a trend—it’s mine. And that’s enough.  

Self Shadows

They tell us not to compare,  
but they hand us the tools—  
the mirror,  
the phone,  
the glossy pages of "perfect" lives  
we’ll never touch.  

She’s thinner.  
She’s prettier.  
She’s everything I’m not.  
And I’m here,  
counting flaws like beads,  
praying for a face that doesn’t feel real.  

Skin too rough,  
hips too wide,  
a stomach that folds like fabric—  
natural, they call it,  
but how can it feel natural  
when it feels like failure?  

I scroll,  
watch her lips curl in a smile  
that says she’s never known self-doubt.  
I scroll,  
watch her body move like a wave,  
while mine feels like
a freak.  

It’s not envy—  
not exactly.  
It’s this quiet, choking thing,  
this scream I swallow every time  
I see a girl who’s better,  
and I wonder why I even try  
to compete.  

Because we’re all competing, right?  
Even when we smile at each other,  
compliment the dress,  
the hair,  
the laugh.  
We’re still measuring:  
Who wins?  
Who loses?  
And how did I end up on the bottom again?  

They say, “Love yourself,”
but they don’t tell you how  
to stop hearing their voices—  
the ones that tell you to be less,  
or more,  
or different.  

She’s thinner.  
She’s prettier.  
She’s happier.  
And maybe it’s true.  
Or maybe she’s just another girl  
with her own mirror,  
her own battles,  
her own swallowed screams.  

We’re all stuck in this game  
we didn’t ask to play,  
and the only way to win  
is to stop keeping score.  

But how do you stop  
when everyone is always watching?

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