forget.

32.

there once was a young girl with green eyes
who wore her soft blonde 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 longer braided pigtails

at the age of fifteen,
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 seventeen,
she was paper thin and empty
with straight blonde 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"