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
