“It’s a girl.”

The doctor said

Holding the squirming babe up to show her to her father. Immediately, he tries, and fails, to hide the blue balloons.

 

“She’s a girl.”

Her cousins state,

When asked by others why they leave her to her lonesome. They soon forget the purpose of the question and head off to explore the creek without her.

 

“It’s that girl.”

Her classmates whisper,

As they try to hide giggles while she rips the bows from her hair and runs to the field. Her dress becomes covered in mud and grass stains. She leaves the bows behind.

 

“What a GIRL.”

The boys laugh,

As she clutches her punctured ball, hiding her face and wiping her nose on scabbed arms. Everyone knows tears signal weakness.

 

“You’re a girl.”

Her father scoffs,

And tries to hide chuckles at the sight of her holding a wrench. “If you ever have car troubles, you can always just call a man!”

 

“WHAT a GIRL.”

The guys all whistle,

When she bends to pick up the books she dropped because of their bump. She blushes madly and sinks her gaze while she scurries away.

 

“Ugly Girl!”

The pack of she-wolves screech,

As they tear her limb from limb with their high heels and scalding words. Looking down at the mirror-like pool of blood, she can’t help but think them right.

 

“Stupid girl!”

Her employer yells,

When she drops the cup of boiling coffee on a high-class lawyer after he smacked her behind. “Women only ever cause trouble!”

 

“I am a girl.”

She says to herself

 As she gazes at her naked reflection. Fury forms within her and she rightfully begins to hate what she sees.

 

“I am a boy.”

He confidently answers,

When asked about his gender by a new roommate. The other boy simply shrugs and goes on about his day and how he misses home already.

 

“Look at that boy”

The pretty girl giggles,

But tries desperately to shush her friends as they pass him on the cafeteria. He pauses his music and looks their way, giving her a smile that makes her heart drop.

 

“Brilliant boy!”

The professor congratulates,

As he gives him his diploma and sends him towards his future. It seems that just by a single decision he  had made years before, it seems much brighter now.

 

“But… you're a girl.”

The love of his life whispers,

As she stares at the man she had loved for five years, only to realize it was a lie. Even while he screams for her to come back, she never turns, and is never seen again.

 

“We know you’re a girl.”

Is what all the companies say,

While he tries to look for work after being discovered in his last one. They shake their head with fake sympathy and shrug their shoulders. It seems his luck’s run out.

 

“You’ll make a fine girl.”

Her parents assure her

The night she decides to ask for help. They send her back to a room full of pink, and while she feels a spark of defiance at the old hauntings around it, she’s too tired to argue and sleeps in it anyways.

 

“I was a girl.”

Is the only reason she gives

In her letter of goodbye along with a dirty bow. Her mother knocks on her door, asking if she’s ready for the party, only to open it and be the first to know.

 

“She was a girl.”

The pastor preaches,

Looking sadly down at the casket that contained the feminine figure in a frilled dress with make-up and laces to doll her up. Everyone agrees she looks like a princess, but only those who truly knew her would call him a king.