To Be Beautiful

Her stomach's screaming out to her
She hasn't eaten in a week
And yet she still refuses to feed it
Until she gets the body she seeks

She doesn't get lunch at school
She always says she already ate
Her friend's just shrug they'd never guess
That she was losing so much weight

At dinner she eats a little
She can't control hunger's urges
But soon after she excuses herself
And above the toilet she purges

She's lost about 30 pounds
Her clothes are far too big
Her rib cage is becoming visible
Yet she looks at herself as a pig

Her skin is going pale now
She looks deathly ill
She's starting to pass out a lot
Even in summer she's getting chills

Today it all got to her
She was outside in the sun
The next thing she knew her world was black
And she heard someone yell "call 911!"

She woke up in the hospital
Plugs in her arms
Her mother and father sleeping on her lap
As if protecting her from more harm

The doctor came in quietly
Said she's lucky that she survived it
If she had gone just one more day
She probably wouldn't have made it

She had to stay in the hospital
And she began to cry
She just wanted to be beautiful
She didn't want to die

For 3 days she stayed in that bed
She tried her best to eat
Sure this anorexia was terrible
But it was something she wanted to beat.

*I did have an anorexic friend, but she's doing better now.