Something savage in the air around me tonight,
Steals my sweet smile and my aura’s natural light.
The monsters in my head call my name in a cheery little song,
“Hey, Pix, time to come on out, won’t you play along?
We can skip some rope, throw some harsh words and all of the stones,
Lash out at everyone around us, build an armor of broken bones.
We can play make-believe, pretend we have a heart,
Paste a smile on our faces and act like we’re not coming apart. “

Maybe they’re just monsters to you,
I understand that’s what I thought at first too.

But if you listen close, try to make sense of their rhymes,
Pull back their masks and forgive their alleged crimes,
You’ll see the little fairy with torn wings,
The broken girl they’re shielding from sticks, stones, and the pain the world
brings.
Maybe mean girls, like monsters, are misunderstood and you just have to
dig deeper down,
Like you do when you see tears staining the makeup on the face of a smiling
clown.
You don’t blame the happy for hiding the sad,
So why would you blame the broken, the lovesick or the mad?

Eri Rhodes