I remember seventh grade
The first year I doubted my self confidence,
Which previously had been pretty high
When a boy in our class decided to rate
Give a numerical value to the beauty
Of every single girl in our classroom
On a wrinkled sheet of loose leaf
Was written our value, my value
According to another human being
I remember walking up, anxious
To see what I got, what value I was,
As if it were a math test I was getting back
And I remember seeing the number next
To my name and pausing, stunned
Out of ten, my value was four
Four. Forty percent of one hundred


A failing grade