By Hannah Love
Kannapolis Middle School
I hate my skin,
My hair is a disaster.
These kinds of self-put downs,
All teens master.
Just like myself,
I’m sorry to say.
That is until I picked up
“Uglies” one day.
A girl named Tally,
Barely older than me.
Considered herself unattractive,
Even ugly.
But she met a friend,
Who’s name was Shay.
She told Tally that things
Weren’t really that way.
So Tally journeyed,
Deep within.
She found Shay was right,
She didn’t have to have the “right” eyes or perfect skin.
Tally was beautiful,
In her own way.
This inspired me,
And is why I am writing today.
Tally taught me,
Beauty is not skin deep.
It’s the person that matters,
What lies underneath.
We must look past the makeup,
The hair and the clothes
To the values, compassion ó
And other things that matter most.
Thank you, Tally,
For making this clear.
I will treasure this message
Year after year.
Hannah Love is an eighth-grader at Kannapolis Middle School and a member of the Greater Cabarrus Reading Association.