If My Body Could Talk to Me, Here’s What She Would Say
Poetry in free verse
You were eleven when you started hating me.
Yes, I understand it must have been tough
when the other girls at school called you “fat”,
and excluded you from their “gang”
because they didn’t think you were “cool” enough.
I understand why you took out the anger on me.
You stopped having lunch,
throwing the food your mother packed
out of the school-bus window,
because you believed being skinny
would help you earn the approval
you craved so much.
You were thirteen when you decided
the only reason your crush doesn’t like you back
is because you are fat.
You started punishing me,
throwing insults at the mirror each day,
wishing I was smaller, fairer, daintier.
But, I was strong,
and that’s something you didn’t see.
I never complained when you slumped on your couch all day
or stared at the computer screen for hours…
