You Are Beautiful, Efe

Illustration: Sacree Frangine

yesterday
my younger
cousin called me

we hadn’t spoken in 7 months

midway
through
our call,
she told me
she wants to
see herself
as beautiful

i understood her
but
i kept silent

because
some things
cannot be explained

some things
must
be
lived

and as we
live through them
we
fully grasp
deep truths
that entangle
themselves
with our DNA

if i were to
tell her anything,
i would have told her
that the beauty
for which she searches
cannot be found in any mirror
no matter how deeply she stares into it