Once when i was just a girl

• Melissa Aylward, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2006

When they walk down the catwalk
When they eat with a fork
When they make girls feel like shit
When I look in the mirror I think maybe I should be more fit
Ok, I give in, I surrender
I’ll work myself until I become slender
I’ll be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa
Or walk the path of bulimia ‘til I’m throwing up mucosa
And when I parade down the stage
I will build up with rage
When I see a little girl looking up to me
Just like her I used to be
I’ll think again
Of the pain
That they caused my world
When looking at those models
Once when I was just a girl