there once was a little girl
who loved to giggle
sometimes she would not like
what she was told to eat
in her stubbornness
she would sit at the table all alone
until darkness came;
Til all but two were tucked in bed.
She would get thumped upside the head
and called some terrible things
but still she would sit hoping they would forget
her plate was not clean.
words were screamed
and words were repeated but to bring the spoon to her lips,
she just would not do it.
And in the end she would go to bed dirty.
stripped naked she was forced to stand
while the food she refused to eat,
well,
it was rubbed all over her bare skin
(mashed potatoes and peas burned in her memories)
in her nose and her ears
And down to her toes.
her pretty brown hair mangled and messed
perhaps one day she would learn;
and she did.
She learned not to speak,
she learned not to argue.
she learned to do what she was told,
to eat every morsel on the plate before her
until nothing was left;
And she slowly disappeared.
*originally published August 2016 @choleintodiamonds*