Worth it — Summary

He's not worth it Not the tears Not the sadness Not the pain. Yet he's your everything How is that fair You don't tell him That he crushed you That when he thinks you're lying You cry You wipe the tears off your face And pretend that it didn't happen That it doesn't matter You tell yourself it's your fault It is You can never do anything right Not in his books Not in others You're a screw up You accept this They tell you to give up But you keep going Wanna know why You need him Maybe you don't But maybe you don't eventually You put too much weight on his shoulders You try to lift it off Stop being a burden You're ashamed with yourself But he won't ever know You wipe those tears off your face And you pretend It's better this way.

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Sam M's "Worth it" is about staying devoted to someone who hurts you. The speaker opens by saying he isn't worth the tears, sadness or pain, yet admits he is "your everything." That contradiction drives the whole poem. Speaking in the second person, the voice seems to be talking to itself, as if the speaker can only face these feelings by putting a little distance between herself and them.

The feelings are heavy: hurt, self-blame and shame. The speaker hides her tears, pretends nothing happened, and agrees that everything is her fault. Lines like "You're a screw up" and "Stop being a burden" show how thoroughly she has absorbed his criticism. Friends tell her to give up, but she keeps going. The mood is quiet, sad and resigned. The repeated image of wiping tears away and pretending ends the poem on a hollow note: "It's better this way" sounds less like comfort than like a lie she has learned to tell.

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