I Am Not the Girl You Had in Mind
I am not the girl you had in mind
I've seen her,
How she walks in pride
The one who never dares to hide
And never forces herself to comply
Oh how she never has to shy
But I am not the girl you had in mind
I am not the girl you had in mind
I've heard her,
A sweet smile, A true laugh
She never has to measure her calf
Her voice lights up the air
She never worries about her hair
But I am not the girl you had in mind
I am not the girl you had in mind
I know her,
Oh I know her well,
The small waist
She never wants to be erased
She can buy her clothes in a haste
Never worried about distaste
But I am not the girl you had in mind
I am the other one
The one who feels displaced
The one who grasps her stomach
Fingers interlaced
The tired one, you know me
That other girl
That can't look at herself in a mirror
Oh how her fears are getting nearer
She whispers in a quiet voice
Afraid to make the wrong choice
My love for myself which was never there
My relationship with food I had to spare
The one so caught up in the numbers
She drives herself to despair
I am sorry for the lies you've been told
And I am sorry for allowing you to be scold
About how you look and act
For the ideas of us girls are so abstract
We are all lied to in fact
But in the end why do we care?
Because they tell us if not we will be in despair
Truth be told we will drive ourselves mad
All for them to say we are not bad
The numbers shouldn't matter
So why do they cause us to scatter
The world tells us so
Why do they make us slow
When they really should be praying for us to grow
You can ask that girl that that you know
For she can tell you how to slow
For none of us are really the girl you know
Those girls were lost long ago
Truth be told they say we have to be brave
When really we are societies slave
The confident girl you had in mind
Only exists in your head redesigned
When the world makes you want to flee
Do not look to me
I am not the girl you had in mind
About the Author: Hi, I am Hannah Akrigg, 16 years old from Dysart, Saskatchewan. This is my free verse poetry piece, called “I Am Not The Girl You Had In Mind”. It is about how society has placed unfair standards on us as girls and how that has effected many of us in negative ways and how that has effected my life. I wrote this piece to remind other girls that they are not alone in their struggles, and no one is truly “perfect”.
