A Girl's Life
Poem by Jennifer Campos
Art by Erin Traylor

You see them everyday
in print, on TV
They have hungry bellies
food on the table
just a little out of reach
Starved to the point of whisper thinness
Clothed in tight strips
criss cross bands
over their bodies
Wrapped over bony hips
a bandage around thin arms
Labels proclaiming
weakness (princess)
pleading (sexy)
resignation (whore)
A sea of skins subjected
to burns, chemical paints,
adhesive, cuts, injections
Walking on nails, on glass
in shoes that never seem to fit
Down a street where you are
pinched, punched
Where they call after you sweetly
only to pull at your hair
strip you naked and
wrap you in a clear plastic bag

Girls, What have we done
to ourselves?
There is no end
to the pains we present
To be soft and hairless
doe-eyed and luscious
The crimes we commit
on ourselves
are punishable by death
in times of war
And yet we give head to our hatred
Our corpses cold
but blushing

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