Not perfection

So many scars to hide

So many stories untold

The pretense of it all

The burden of the barely honest 

Disassembled to hideaway

Drifting as a castaway

Labelled and classified

Not the perfect life behind glass

Leaving the neat packaging to decompose

Exposed mess of birth, growth and wisdom

Rough roads, scrapped knees

Burnt and blistered vanity

And the glorious comfort in worn souls

No applause please

Just self-satisfaction

I stood, I fell, I stood again

Then I walked free

-Camille Delaquise

This poem appears in Behind the Facade, Camille’s debut contemporary poetry collection. Not perfection speaks to the dignity of an unvarnished life — honouring the scars, failures and hard-won wisdom that make authenticity more powerful than any polished illusion.

This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.

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The beauty that is found