light as a feather.

all her life she looked in the mirror
and whispered softly
as the tears ran down her face,
pretty and skinny.
she wanted to be the parallel
to the airbrushed images
that she had been told to ignore.
but there was that lingering,
bitter taste in her mouth.
the burning want .

get thinner, get thinner.
eat food, get fat.
eat nothing, be pretty.

and the poor little girl
let that take over her.
the mindset leeching onto her thoughts,
blocking out her true vision.
blinding her to the hole she dug herself into.

when she looked into the mirror now,
she saw pretty and skinny.
but when everyone else looked at her,
they saw a monster.
a pitiful ghost in an emaciated shell.

get thinner, get thinner.
eat food, get fat.
eat nothing, die.