I Am The Girl

Yesterday a boy in my orchestra class said
he used to have a girlfriend but,
“She got annoying and fat.”
Everybody laughed.

I bit down the words that were struggling
to climb up my throat. After all,
my voice is too loud, I should speak softer.
My ideas are wrong, why should I share them
with people who don’t care.
My opinion doesn’t matter,
no one listens to girls anyways.

At lunch, my best friend whispers excuses
and slips into the bathroom.
Her legs tremble, and I can see sunlight
between her bones. She is
shattering because of a perception
that she is too much: too much
weight, too many goals, too much
to be considered perfect.

In our world of women’s rights and feminism,
a girl is still sitting in the back of her
geometry class afraid to raise her hand.
She is strong and smart, but fears the
judgment of society if she asks a question.
I am her, and she is me.

By Alyson Brown

Biography:

Alyson Brown is a high school writer who lives in San Diego, California. Along with writing poetry in her free time, she does speech and debate and helps with her school magazine. She aspires to make a difference in people’s lives with her writing. You can find more of her work on tumblr at c0nstellationofdreams.tumblr.com