By Alexandra Gillespie
In the suburbs of a city
In a house with a picket fence
a pretty Girl plays with her plate of food
And wishes she felt more gratitude
Because all she feels is sick.
Three states away a girl stares at her phone
And hear a woman say what she eats in a day
And that girl skips her usual snack
and later when she looks back
She was hungry, she just didn’t eat.
And that may not seem like much
Because it isn’t at first, it isn’t until it hurts
to keep down a meal and you won’t reveal to anyone
How bad it’s gotten because
you won’t know it’s bad until you can’t stop.
You will struggle to find a girl or boy today
Who didn’t at least walk that line
And say “Hey, what’s skipping breakfast
If it could make me look like that
Make me look like them.”
Remember the next time you wish
You looked like a picture hanging on a wall
That things hanging by that thin of a string
Tend to fall
And when they break people don’t always see.
So I’ll say it now because I don’t know
Who feels like they’re dealing with this
All alone but the thing about eating is you won’t
Want to get better and then someone says
“Hey you look good in that sweater”
And your pain is validated
And you feel seen because of
A number on a scale or the number on your jeans
And you’ll keep going even if the price
Gets higher and higher and higher and you don’t want to pay.
And then one day, you’ll realize
You’re worth so much more than
Fitting the shape of a mannequin at a store
That everyone is different and you have to listen
To your body not society.
I hope that day comes soon
And that it comes before you hurt
The ones you love because you do,
You hurt the ones you love.
You are loved, don’t play when it comes to food.
