Little Girl

I remember hearing 

"bones are for dogs"

"eat a cheeseburger" 

"size 0 is not a size."

I remember over eating,

till I nearly threw up

because all I wanted 

was to be 'normal.'

I remember staring 

at myself in the mirror

with plain disgust

and hate for a body

that never was.

I had hipbones

that jutted out

like pocket knives.

I had ribs that could be felt 

beneath my shirt,

a spine that could 

clearly be defined.

I was called 'anorexic'

'sick' and 'too skinny.'

I grew up listening

to a society who body shamed

some girls, to make the other girls

feel better about themselves.

I have learned to bite my tongue,

when someone said I should be happy

with my body, because I am skinny.

What people don't realize is that

calling a girl 'too skinny' is the

same as calling a girl 'too fat.'

But in this one-sided society,

no one cared about girls like me.

I was constantly bullied by girls

and boys who would never date me

because 'thigh gaps' 'visible collar bones'

and 'hip bones' are unnatural.

But I was born naturally thin.

This poem is for the girls

who felt they were never good enough

because their butts were too bony

and their boobs barely visible.

This is for the girls who 

were taught to be silent.

We are more than the red marks

they left on our wrists,

proclaiming it tiny, as if we didn't already know.

We are more than the number on the scale.

We are more.