Outside

Outside in the playground

With the popular girls

Looking for acceptance

That wasn’t what you found

Only affectations

Conformity and submission

To the tyranny of fashion

Empty-headed smilers and pleasers

Pretenders and teasers

You searched for honesty

Found only lies

No friendship or sisterhood

No forever ties

So you hooked up with the boys

Learning how to play the game

The footwork

The bad words

Earned yourself a name

And then

Inside the classroom

Grew a passion

For words

Stories and poetry

Expression

Of emotion

In nouns, adjectives and verbs

Pictures with a pen

Brought the outside

To the inside

Where you found

Your voice again

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