Once on the first day of school

She wore two ribbons tied into her hair

And the girls would play dolls

And the boys would avoid the girls

And she would get gold stars

And she would eat lots of sweets

And when she would ride the bus home

And run into her mother’s arms

And give her parents the pictures she drew at school

And they would hang it on the refrigerator

And her parents would read her bedtime stories

And she would sing nursery rhymes before bed

On the first day of school

She wore a tiny short skirt

And the girls would gossip on the phone

And the boys would write boys love poems

And she would hang out with the popular crowd

And she would avoid sweets because of the calories

And she would walk home from school because she wanted to lose weight

And her mother would be too busy taking care of her siblings

And she would put the awards she won at school on the table for her parents to see

And they would throw it away, thinking it was a bill

And her parents would knock on the door to say goodnight

And she’d listen to metal before bed

Once on the first day of school

She hardly wore any clothes

And the girls would smoke in the bathroom

And the boys would kiss the girls

And she would skip class with her friends

And she hardly ate at all because she thought she was fat

And she wouldn’t come home until late

And her mother would be drinking

And she would give her parents her report card

And they would yell at her for not making good grades

And her parents would dismiss her goodnight

And she would cry before bed

Once on the first day of school

She wore long sleeves in the middle of August

And the girl would cry over the boys

And the boys would take advantage of the girls

And she would sleep during school

And she would throw up after meals

And she would lock herself in her room after school

And her mother would be yelling at her father

And she told her parents lies

And they would be too busy to care

And her parents would forget to say goodnight

And she would cut herself before bed

Once on the first day of school

She didn’t arrive

And the girl would make fun of each other behind their backs

And the boys would slut shame the girls

And she locked herself in the bathroom

And she never ate even though she was sick

And her parents wouldn’t notice she was gone

And her mother would sleep all day

And she wrote her parents wouldn’t find her till later

And she whispered to herself ‘goodnight’

And she swallowed a handful of pills before bed