The Belly of the Beast

Fear.

What am I afraid of?

A simple four letter word with the

utmost complexity.

On the surface it’s the small things:

Why doesn't she smile?

My her waist is so thin..

What is it she's scared of,

trying to fit in?

No it must be her parents,

the other ones say.

How could they have raised her,

brought her up in this way?

Who stole her affection?

Who had broken her heart?

What caused her to purge,

Break her family apart?

It must be the television

the media,

what more?

That made her crack like a twig

from all that pressure

I'm sure.

It is not just one thing I can name!

she tells them.

It is not one,

or two things to blame.

She says,

The demons inside,

they run deep in my veins.

So she goes to the ocean

to watch the worries as they sway.

She looks at the surface

as it glimmers with the sun’s rays.

She knows what lies beneath

As so many do not.

She is aware of the danger

that most could not stomach,

the knot

in their stomachs that she would create

if they really knew

that what was beneath the surface,

the glimmer,

was hate.

The people come to admire its beauty

Gape at its calm ripple;

"It's perfect here",

She heard one whisper.

THEN JUMP RIGHT IN!!

She screams as they near.

You'll feel the cold as you sink.

You see they came on a good day

When the sun was shining and

the water still.

But if they'd just swim

a little deeper,

then they would really see

the harshness of her reality.