Poetry

The poetry unit was one of the first ever Freestyle assignments given to us during our junior year (2015). I had had experience with poetry in the past so I didn’t think that this unit would be too difficult; that was until we got to the spoken word and slam poetry section of the unit. At first, I was just going to do a cute, short spoken word about how much I love cats. However, when I had finished writing that poem, I realized that I wanted something more moving and influential. Something that really struck a chord with people. I started doing deeper research on spoken word and slam poetry; that’s when I was introduced to this wonderful world of moving, interesting, absolutely amazing poetry that, most importantly, spoke to me. I then spent about an hour just grinding out life experiences that have changed my life. I spent the next week or so revising that original draft and came up with a spoken word poem that I turned into a TEDx talk. I am still proud of “Dear Girl in the Mirror” a year later.

Dear Girl in the Mirror

One

Dear girl in the mirror,

I see you there

Who are you?

What are you?

Stare

Two

Dear girl in the mirror,

I understand now

You are me

I am you

Stare

Three

Dear girl in the mirror,

Mommy and Daddy don’t live together anymore

That’s okay

I’ll just play with you

You mimic me

I mimic you

As I make silly faces for you to see

For me to see

Stare

Four

Dear girl in the mirror,

Mommy and I have our own apartment now

Sometimes I get to stay with Daddy

I don’t understand why he is always crying

I get to look at you in two mirrors

I get to look at me in two mirrors

Stare

Five

Dear girl in the mirror,

Kindergarten, yay!

Mommy does my hair

I wear my favorite dress

You look so pretty

I look so pretty

Stare

Six

Dear girl in the mirror,

I don’t understand why I have to wear a dress to school

So Mommy buys me pants

You look cool

I look cool

Stare

Seven

Dear girl in the mirror,

I have a new Dad

He’s super cool

Mommy picks out an outfit for me to wear to my brand new school

I guess you look cute

I guess I look cute

Stare

Eight

Dear girl in the mirror,

You got REAL glasses

I got real glasses

They are squares that rest perfectly on my face

You look awesome

I look awesome

Stare

Nine

Dear girl in the mirror,

You cut your hair

I cut my hair

People start calling me names that I don’t even understand

My family starts calling me names that I don’t even understand

Butch

Mut

Mixed

That’s okay though

I don’t think they mean anything bad

You look nice

I look nice

Stare

Ten

Dear girl in the mirror,

Mom is starting to get sick after she eats again

I don’t understand why

She eats less than I do

Maybe she’s just sick

I don’t think much of it

School is getting harder

I don’t have as many friends

That’s okay

Because the friends I have are here to stay

You look happy

I look happy

Stare

Eleven

Dear girl in the mirror,

All of my friends are growing

They are starting to get breasts

And hips

They are starting to fill out their dresses

Why aren’t I?

It doesn’t matter

I don’t even like dresses

I like wearing boy clothes

You look different

I look different

Stare

Twelve

Dear girl in the mirror,

Nana died

It’s going to be hard starting middle school without her here

I tried to dress more girly today

But my friend called my thighs “jiggly”

I want to hide them

Your thighs look jiggly

My thighs look jiggly

Stare

Thirteen

Dear girl in the mirror,

Your friends are now old friends

But your new friends are cool

One of them is SUPER cute

But he says he will never like you because you don’t have a butt or boobs

That’s okay

At least your new friends don’t stare at you as much as the other kids do

You look flat

I look flat

Stare

Fourteen

Dear girl in the mirror,

High-school is here

I finally get a new start

I put on a tough exterior so no one will mess with me

Because that’s the way I want it to be

I finally have a boyfriend

We sometimes do things I don’t want to do

My boyfriend broke up with me

Rumors started

You look like a slut

I look like a slut

Stare

Fifteen

Dear girl in the mirror,

You spend your nights sitting in the bathroom crying

Inside you are slowly dying

But your luck changes

Maybe this year will be better

You have this highschool thing down

You can wear your title as a sophomore as your crown

You have better friends

Best friends

A new boyfriend that you love with all your heart

He starts blaming everything on you

Maybe it is your fault?

It is your fault

You break up

Are you not good enough?

Am I not good enough?

You stop eating

I stop eating

You look skinny

I look skinny

Stare

Sixteen

Dear girl in the mirror,

This year seems pretty cool

You have your friends to keep you company

While you’re in school

You’re finally healthy

Hopefully that stays

People are already starting to comparing you to other people

You start to see more and more of the fat Instead of a nice six pack

You look fat

I look fat

Stare

Dear girl in the mirror,

Here’s to another number,

Another year