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Anorexia Nervosa

A child
No more than 12 years old
Sees images of women
Thin
Beautiful
Rich
Wanted
She looks in the mirror
She doesn't see the image
Her body doesn't fit the mold
Movies, TV and magazines
Tell her she is not what they want
She is not thin
She is not beautiful
Everyday her eyes cry as she looks at who she is
The perfect her hidden within
The beautiful soul they will not let her see
She diets
She starves
Still she does not fit the mold
She feels unloved
Unwanted
Eating less than a cracker a day
Throwing up the scant food she eats
Her body changes
Wasting away
They make her up
She wears a beautiful white dress
They close the lid
Denied the perfect her
The person she should have been
She lies in eternal rest
But she is loved
She is wanted
She will be missed

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Marikate Kingston

Date: 12/29/2021 4:45:00 PM

Hello Mr. Taylor. I was surfing around and found your poem. My friend's sister collapsed and died, running in the 75- degree heat, her legs wrapped in Saran wrap to lose weight. Already 100 lbs. It was so sad. She was a beautiful person inside and out. It is said that cosmetic companies spend billions each year advertising. Such an important piece of writing.

Breana Wiggins

Date: 12/15/2008 8:13:00 PM

This is so beautiful and sad at the same time... Beautifully written and tnx for the comment on my poem and your right no one wants to be on my bad side... *Breana

Kristin Reynolds

Date: 11/25/2008 2:23:00 AM

I used to be anorexic, I damn near killed myself due to what the media told young girls they must look like to be beautiful - I was never fat to begin with, but, such is the mind of youth. I hear this poem, and am so glad I saw what I was doing to myself and started eating again. well said, love Kristin