***My entry for Writer's Digest Wednesday Poetry Prompts
What a joyful girl you were
Such a cheerful spirit you had back then
Dancing and singing until you dropped
Drawing and counting your bit of change
You'd skip towards the ice cream man
down the street in his red cart
the second you heard its bell ringing.
We used to play the Barbie blonde,
Remember the only one you had?
Such pretty skin she had!--that grown-up doll
was as perfect as your cousins.
"Why can't you be like them?
Or even like the girls in school?
Not only are they smart, you see
but such charming personalities
are made for TV too, you know."
Remember when you failed your test
and hid it from your mom?
She wouldn't understand, I know
it would have made her flip, god knows
Remember when your aunt got mad
that you failed your spelling too?--
"Those English words have meanings
Don't be stupid and start memorizing."
Pardon your aunt for her pinches,
the ones she laid on your sweaty skin.
She needed a place to stay,
while she studied for her B.A.
Your mom was so kind--that's her sister
Remember she took you out that time?
She just didn't like your chubby face
and couldn't read what's in your chest,
like you didn't even know it then
when something shrunk inside of you.
So don't cry anymore
you've washed them away--the marks
countless times before
And look at you now.
Do you see how I've grown?
Yes there's much work to be done.
But don't you worry, we'll be just fine.
So we'll part for now,
cause you're stronger now.
But since you've not been told,
let me say this now
what a delightful child you really are,
like the happy girl you were back then
before everything else happened
that only made you stronger.
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