Mommy,
Grandma looks more and more like the raisins on my snack.
You say she might say funny things,
and act silly. Like me!
But you don't treat her like you treat me,
you yell like a banshee.
She yells too.
Then I yell, but over everything you must not have heard me.  

Mama,
You still have trouble hearing me,
more so with little brother screaming.
Could you please make it stop? I have to study for finals.
I don't think I will pass.
I never told you, but I think I'm too dumb to amount to anything.
Sometimes I'm okay,
because I can't hear myself tell myself that I do not think highly of myself.
I can't hear because of the screaming and crying,
and you telling yourself that you are fat and are going to die.

Mom,
I'm fine.
No I mean it this time,
I have found comfort in the patterns of rhyme.
I yell into cyberspace, but don't make a sound
and I wear my painted smile like a clown.
That reminds me,
You're scared of clowns.
So why did you marry one?

When your child sleeps for 16 hours do not call them lazy; ask them if they are feeling alright and do not accept that they're "fine".

When your child skips dinner do not just assume it's a diet, sit them down and ask why they are not eating their favorite meal and don't let them convince you that they are not hungry because odds are they're famished.

When you see scratches and burns and bruises and cuts on their body I hope to god you don't look the other way, I hope you hold them tight and tell them how much you love them.

When your child begins skipping classes and asking to stay home do not yell at them, climb in bed with them and ask them what is going on at school.

When your child eats 3 helpings of food and snack after snack after snack I hope you don't think this is normal and I hope you ask your child what is troubling them and I hope you tell them they're beautiful.

When your child pulls away from you and shuts you out and starts destroying themselves I hope to god you don't think it's a "phase" and I hope to god you take on your job as a parent to try and understand and love them, do not tell them to "grow up" because odds are that's the exact problem.