ginny laughs like a
violin
soft and quick
sounding pretty

ginny tells me she believes in
love
at first sight
in fairy tales and chivalry
in princesses with their
knights in shining armor
and she’s waiting for
her prince with his white horse
to chase her down
and run away with her

but i’m not sure
if i could ever believe in
love
the way ginny does

ginny tells me that
she isn’t pretty
with her big brown eyes
long lashes
straight brown hair
and her breasts the size
some girls wish for

my brown eyes are small
my brown hair frizzes
curls flopping everywhere
and my little boobies
stick out a little

but i know that
i’m still pretty
and so is ginny

ginny tells me she believes in
people
in miracles and people that
do good things
just out of the kindness
of their hearts

but i look around and see
they pick on ginny
they call her fat
they say she’s not pretty
they pick her apart
so i can’t agree with her

ginny tells me she believes in
heaven
in god up in heaven
with the angels and jesus

ginny’s spent half her life
in and out of hospitals
she’s always been sick
they call it crohn’s disease

ginny tells me she’s going to
heaven
if god were to call for her
if she was too sick
but when he calls for her
ginny won’t be scared
because she knows that she’s
going to heaven

i believe in
reincarnation
in souls coming back
and living again and again

ginny, she could have been a
deer
always unsure
delicate and fragile

me, i could have been a
bird
always flying

ginny tells me she believes in
destiny
in destiny and in fate
and all things happening
for a reason
and in karma
in people’s actions
coming back to them

and i hope she’s right

ginny tells me she believes in
life
in living life to the fullest
living everyday as if
it were the last
ginny tells me, “carpe diem-
seize the day”
and, “everyday is a gift”

but i also know
that on some days
ginny just breaks down
and hides away
from the world
and doesn’t believe in
anything

they don’t understand
they whisper about her
they pick her apart

and while ginny, sometimes
sometimes she’s always happy
always having fun
and full of life

sometimes ginny
breaks down
she cries inconsolably
no one can help her

they call it depression
and anxiety
but no amount of
doctors and medication
can cure her
just like her crohn’s disease
is chronic, never to be cured
so is this

the world,
through ginny’s eyes,
is probably
a beautiful world
but also, so very
cruel

ginny tells me she doesn’t believe in
herself

i believe in ginny