she

she dresses like no one should care but

everybody will and she speaks like she’s in charge.

she laughs and cries in private because she enjoys

her own company more than anyone else’s and

her favorite person to speak with lies in

her own mirror.

she bites her nails and picks her skin because

what else will satisfy and calm the shaking

deep in her bones?

she pulls herself apart before anyone else can

because she needs to get ahead. no one

can tear her down if she’s already

hit rock bottom.

she makes sure to tell people she loves them

and how, in her mind, they are perfect.

and she does this because she means it but also

because it is what she longs to hear from others.

and she writes poems, admiring herself because

who else will?