how she fell

part one: elementary school

"sticks and stones may break my bones

but words can never hurt me"

she sang, sang while they

called her ugly and fat and weird-looking, she sang it

when they called her retarded and stupid and dumb

to convince herself that they were just words, they have

no meaning.

 

part two: middle school

"sticks and stones may break my bones

but words can never hurt me"

she chanted to herself while walking

alone through crowded hallways, chanted as they

called her worthless and fake and self-centered

because she didn't want it to hurt as much as it did.

 

part three: high school

she changed her look and lost some weight,

and she whispered to herself, tried to convince herself that

"sticks and stones may break my bones

but words can never hurt me"

while they called her a slut and a whore and a bitch,

when she walked alone among her peers.

 

part four: when she fell

she stopped her singing and chanting and whispering

because she stopped her life with a bottle of pills

when the words became too much,

 

she could heal her broken bones but not

her broken heart.