compliments welcome

i am devilishly critical of


myself


and no one else more-so


this thought appeared in my mind


like a timid stranger


when i mistook a student's critical gaze


for being settled on my outift


i shook my head to rattle out the nonsense


realizing it was concern for herself, and not distain for me


in her eyes


so from now on i will


decidedly


accept the compliments i receive


about character and physical beauty


as a balm to dry skin


i will rub it in and let it soak


and enjoy the way it fills in the cracks of my


disjointed self to make me one


smooth whole again