there once was a young girl with green eyes
who wore her soft blond hair
in braided pigtails
at the age of seven,
she watched her older sister
stand in front of the mirror before school
and pinch her stomach with a disgusted face
neither of them ate breakfast that morning
at the age of nine,
she watched her older brother
make fun of a girl with glasses
for reading on the bus
she went home and hid all her books in the attic
at the age of twelve,
she watched the older girls at school
with straight hair and short skirts
put makeup on in the bathroom
and discuss how boys would only like you
if you looked perfect, like them
the next day she arrived with red lips, short shorts, and no braided pigtails
at the age of fourteen,
she watched her father hit her mother for the first time
her mother cried when she saw her standing in the doorway
and told her daddy didn't mean it
the next year, she told herself that her boyfriend didn't mean it, either
at the age of sixteen,
she was paper thin and empty
with straight blond hair, red lips,
purple flesh, and lifeless green eyes
while staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror,
she thought to herself "at least i'm normal."