Challenge
We are a literary agency seeking fresh talent. In 200 words or more, demonstrate your writing talent. We will be in touch with any and all promising participants throughout the rest of this quarter.
Demons
Do you remember when you were four years old,
When you didn't care about how your body looked.
When you didn't know how it should look.
You didn't care about what you ate or what you weighed.
You didn't even know what perfection was.
You were just purely you.
Who even told you what flaws were?
Who told you what was beautiful,
And what was not?
Who had the audacity to ruin your perfect self image.
And start a world of impossible standards.
Who created the demon inside of you?
The demon that has now taken over your life.
The one that made you care more about the number on the scale,
Or the blemish on your face,
Then your self worth.
The demon screaming inside of you,
Hammering in the message that you will never be loved,
Not unless you meet an impossible list of "perfection".
A list filled with thigh gaps, tiny waists, big eyes and perfect skin.
A list that will tear you apart.
The demon hollows out your insides,
Taking away any joy you had left in your body,
Until there is nothing.
Creating an abyss that will never be filled.
It makes it so all you can think about is everything you are not.
You'd rather starve than eat.
You would rather cut your arms,
Than look at yourself in a mirror.
The demon will not stop until you hate yourself.
Until you loathe your very existence,
And cry yourself to sleep.
It will keep on growing and growing,
until you fade away to nothingness.
You have to take away its power.
Look away from that magazine,
And step away from that scale.
Stop thinking about what your not,
And embrace who you are.
Stop caring about a space between your thighs,
Or a timepiece like figure.
And start caring about you.
Your body is your only home.
Stop treating it like its broken,
Or messy.
Stop trying to clean and fix your already perfect house.
The only one who can kill the demon
Is you.
Winterreign
Beautiful
YoungWriter
@Winterreign thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment on my writing. I am really trying to spread the powerful message of loving your body around. If you know any prosers that would enjoy this, I would love for you to tag them! Thank you so much <3
KeepComingBack
More young girls should read this.
YoungWriter
@HawkishUnderdog I completely agree. I feel like this message needs to be spread though out generation
YoungWriter
@Amber-Rose thank you so much for your supportive words
Tee_Hi
Wow. Very well said. I still suffer sometimes from some of the mutterings from the demon FAMILY that was whispering in my ear... As a parent, I made sure to hammer it into my girls that they're beautiful as-is. Maybe too much so, cuz now they're big-headed! *lol*
DaniciaTari
This is exactly what I needed to read tonight, absolutely amazing and well executed! Well done :)
YoungWriter
@Tee_Hi thank you for reading my poem
YoungWriter
@DaniciaTari I'm glad my poem helped you. Thank you for your kind words
SeporaChai
I am very honored that u would like me to comment on your writing. : ) especially because i feel that I can learn so much from you and your writing inspires me. I loved this piece and I feel like I can really relate to this. Keep spreading this message because it's a really important one! Thank you so much for your nice comments and for sharing your writing with me. It maked me very happy to read spectacular pieces like this one. You have amazing talent so please keep sharing it!
JosephLord
@YoungWriter I came here from your comment on my post and I will be honest I have worked as a support worker for young people with severe and persistant eating disorders and self harm behaviours and I see this question raised in a lot of them. It is really hard to come to personal realisations around this. Hard to share feelings and I am glad you did. I have also had my own mental health problems and I feel a lot of the desperation to understand why. A nice piece that hits at the core of an issue. Well done.
YoungWriter
@JosephLord thank you so much for commenting and liking my post. I cannot explain how much all of you prosers support has helped me grow as a writer
YoungWriter
@SeporaChai thank you so much for reading my poem. It makes me feel amazing that so many prosers are supporting me!
YoungWriter
@RubyPond you are an amazing inspiration to me! Thank you for reading my piece!
desmondwrite
Empowering. I've got a few demons to kill.
Shells
This is a powerful write.
YoungWriter
@desmondwrite as many of us do. I'm glad you enjoyed my piece
YoungWriter
@Shells thank you for your like and comment
Trousers
You asked, "who had the audacity to.." and described a demon inside, asking who created it? Good question. Good points but it makes the reader agree that this bullshit is normal. Aren't we all subjected to touched up images on magazines, etc. It cannot allow the reader to feel possessed yet it does force the reader to look at their self image issues based on social pressure. I really liked the read because it made me want to speak up about social and self image influence.
YoungWriter
@DellaMetcalf thank you for the amazing comment. Thank you for liking and supporting my poetry!
fallingundone
I really like the idea of it, especially the beginning. If you really want me to be nitpicky, though, I'd say that after the "demon" appears the whole tone changed to one I liked a little bit less, I preferred how involved you seemed in the beginning to when you started to concentrate on the demon.
YoungWriter
@stardustfalling thank you so much for closely analyzing my piece. I am always up for constructive criticism
fallingundone
You're totally welcome! Sometimes it's fun to let my inner critic out to play, too!
Tyla
beautiful piece and very powerful speaks volumes and as someone who has struggled with an eating disorder u have touched my heart and I love that you are showing that this struggle is real and addicting that causes us to see no need in stopping this destructive course we land upon that gives us short lived happiness all because of just a fucking number
Nelion
I'm speechless. Absolutely speechless. Gorgeous piece
YoungWriter
@Tylasmith thank you so much for that comment! Yes this is a problem many people struggle with everyday. I wrote this poem in hope for those people to let go of their, "demons"
YoungWriter
@WhiteRaven Thank you so much for supporting my writing! I wouldn't be this writer I am today without the support of amazing writers like you!
CuriouslyMe
Absolutely breathtaking
chippinghatter
Love it!
YoungWriter
@CuriouslyMe thank you for your positive comments!!
YoungWriter
@elizaschuyler thank you so much for your suppirt
Srilekha
Beautiful moving piece! I loved how powerful it was and it can truly affect others in unimaginable ways. This is probably one of the best pieces I've read on Prose! Such a beautiful topic to write about, especially now, when everyone cares so much about these things. I absolutely love it!
YoungWriter
@luvtoread_21 you do not know how much that means to me! Thank you so much!!
JustQuinn
I love the message of this! I know, being a female myself, the pressure put on us to look "perfect." It's very true that sometimes because of society that we criticize ourselves from extremely early ages now. More young girls should be reading or be told thins like this piece. I absolutely loved this piece. Thanks for reading my post, as well.
YoungWriter
@QuinnyQuinn thank you so much!
butlersteph
There is a lot of courage in this piece! I enjoyed reading it.
YoungWriter
@butlersteph thank you for reading my post. I always enjoy when people press the heart button and comment on my poems
jubilee
Yes! It's the radiant and subtle body that matter. That top layer means nothing without 7 layers of beautiful inner sheaths <3
jubilee
@YoungWriter
YoungWriter
@brieannekt thank you so much
lonely
This is such a lovely poem! More girls- and guys too- should read this. My favorite lines are "who created the demon inside of you? And "the demon screaming inside of you, hammering in the message that you will never be loved."
YoungWriter
@lonely thank you so much! I love all of the positive feedback I am getting on this piece! It makes me feel so amazing
Bunny
Interesting stuff, I love the ideas! It seems like you may have a missing word on line 7, but I'm not sure.
ravensayhan
I have thought about these things so many times, in so many ways. In many ways, mostly - but not entirely - unintentionally, society trains us to discard our self-contentment, neglect our natural self-study we need to get to know ourselves, and look outwards for a sense of self. That is what creates that demon of self-demise...egocide. Society programs us to have a slow-processing built-in psycho-self destruct mechanism.
JULIAK
Bravo send yourself off to flush that demon out of your life and you just said it:
The only person that can kill this demon,
And make yourself whole again,
Is you.
YoungWriter
@JULIAK thank you so much!
indego
A well written piece with such a meaningful message! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this amazing message.
star_catcherx
A message turned story that really exposes the intentions of our society today. I totally agree with this write, if not more than what you conveyed. Thank you for this piece that needs to be read by every person living. Great work.
YoungWriter
@XxFwuffyBunnyxX thank you so much for the comment. I am so lucky to be getting positive comments from all you talented writers
Vee
Yes true, but our western society makes it fucking hard for females. There are so many types of beauty in this world and ways to be sexy.
KeithBaucum
I like this.
anarosewood
just... amazing