Girl On The Cover

[wrote this awhile back for a forum, but was too scared to publish it]

i've heard
i've seen
a battle in vain
that lies at the diverged path
between beauty and pain

small wrists
withered skin
angry bruises
thighs so thin

the lights are too bright
the labels too big
cries go unanswered
despite
constant struggles from
models being twigs

and competition
for what?
a woman's right to treat and feed herself
gone
instead teaching her to strut
down a path with no destination
just to turn back around
and revisit
the lies
pain
deceit
and a world that restricts
her most basic need
to eat