Taped on her mirror

Are pictures of Goddesses

Angelia, goddess of lips

Kim, goddess of curves

Twin goddesses Mary Kate and Ashley

Deities of being skinny

She wakes up

Spending hours in front of that mirror

Their eyes watching

Judging

Always judging.

 

Before getting dressed

Or brushing her teeth

She steps on a scale

To see if her goal yet reached

 

She’s a tall glass of water

Only fifteen years old

Standing 5 foot 6

A whopping 126 lbs

 

Her face scrunches up

Brow furrows in frustration

She’s been trying so hard

And hardly eaten

 

She watches E! Network

While making a smoothie

The praising of more goddesses

They’re prefect in every way

If only she could be like them someday

 

She excuses herself to the bathroom

Bikini bodies still in her head

She’s in there for a while

“You okay in there honey?”

“Just go away mom!” she says

 

6 miles on the treadmill

And don’t forget the stairs

Crunches and push ups

4 more miles to run

The goddess image is so close

It’s as blinding as the sun

 

Lunch is just a salad

With a glass of lemon water

Another 20 minutes in the bathroom

But at least she’s feeling hotter

 

“Flat Abs and a Great Butt”

Seventeen Magazine

“Get A Flat Tummy in Just 6 Days!”

Cosmo

“Look Pretty With Just One Makeup Trick”

Seventeen Magazine

What she is

Is not good enough

 

Her face is too thin

Bags under her eyes

Her hair begins to fall out

No energy to even smile

 

Under constant fire from the media

Being pressured

Manipulated

Hypnotized

Seeing her like this, it makes her family cry

 

Anorexia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa

The highest mortality rates

Of any mental illness

 

There is a difference

Between being healthy

And being thin

Women need to learn the difference

And to accept

That true beauty lies within

 

Change is long over due

Young girls need to know

The media is wrong

Celebrities aren’t perfect

Whether you’re a size 4 or a size 14

When it comes to finding love or friends

You’re personality has more of an affect

 

I want girls to have pictures

Not of goddesses on their mirrors

But of heroes

Maya Angelou

Marie Curie

Eleanor Roosevelt

Dorothea Lange

 

To change anything in the world

Would be a great gift

And I just can’t accept

The negative influence

Of the media on young women

 

Look in your mirror

And instead of searching for what you could be

Trying acknowledging

What you have accomplished.