There are days when I can hardly breathe
When getting out of bed is something I am proud to achieve
They say we are too young to know true suffering
They’re right.
I shouldn’t know the pain of losing a close friend
Losing count of the funerals I attend
I shouldn’t crave the feeling of an empty stomach
Should be too young to watch those around me slit their wrists
And use self-harm as a way to feel bliss
Self-destructing as a way to feel something, anything
In a world where we have gone numb.

I can still see your brown eyes staring
Hunting me down, hungry
I shy away, a thin veil of modesty
Protecting me from the truth
But I can’t hide for long
The real shield has always been my youth.

Naivety has always been a privilege
One that was not wasted on adolescents
Until teenager became synonymous with antidepressants
And now your brown eyes shift
Tracing my outline
I guess he’s too focused on my hemline
I’m not even old enough to drink wine.

Maybe he doesn’t care
Nothing wrong with taking a look
No consent involved in a quick glance
No one would believe a kid anyway
I have no experience in romance
No proof he even made an advance.

I’m just a silly little girl
Too young to be taken seriously
And yet somehow not too young
To be drooled over by a man’s tongue.