When I was 13
there was a boy
who used to call me
fat
and
ugly
and
I always used to make
excuses up
for him
like
he got bullied himself
not by peers
but by
the voices in his mind
or
his parents were getting a
divorce
because
his dad ran off with
the blonde bimbo
from
the beauty salon
down the road
but
then
I took a step back
and
I realized
maybe he just hated me
so
I started to
hate
myself.

(k o f)