darling girl

not quite woman

but cursed with womanly flesh

venus hips on sleeping beauty, never before pricked

we let the world age you before your time

poured the whiskey down your throat

instead of letting your pink tongue taste the wine on your lips

we taught you to dance for others

instead of to the beat of your wild erratic heart

a turn of the hips for the boys in the back

instead of satiating the burning hole in your chest

you learned to become small

to shrink yourself in crowded rooms

to not clamor to be seen

for, as you quickly learned,

life is not kind to the girl who forces the world to acknowledge her