Flaws N All

By: Léa G. Rohrbasser

This poem was inspired by my desire to emphasize the point that nobody is perfect; it is impossible to be, and in-fact inhuman, to be “perfect”. Society has so many standards and expectations made for us to follow, but the truth is that these “rules” are all literally made up. We are all imperfectly perfect. It was important for me to use the letter “N” in the title “Flaws N All”, because in this form of reading “N” can have several interpretations; one being “Flaws and All”, another being “Flaws in All”… again reiterating the point that each and every one of us is flawed.

Flaws n All

If you stare at her long enough, her flaws will show. 

She is not beautiful like you say. 

She is not radiant; she is not extraordinary. 

Far from it, 

she’s a flawed human being. 

Don’t get it twisted, don’t assume she’s not “all that”, but never call her flawless. 

For within each and every flaw, we carry a story.

The scars on our bodies all have different pasts. 

The trials of life leave permanent traces.

Flaws create and build us, so to call a being unflawed is to deny that they are human.