I don't like the stripes I carry on my body.
Every time I look in the mirror I am reminded of the girls who acted stuck up and ******.

My stripes are what keep me covered in the summer hours
rather than standing next to the beach towers.

They say these stripes are battle scars.
But all I see is an empty room with bars.

I'm not talking about stripes with a knife,
I'm talking about the ones that came when I couldn't control my life.

These stripes came from growing and
are also the ones I don't want to be showing.