Honey, don’t worry the kids are fine.
But somewhere along the line,
I lost the desire to be big.
And the shrinking,
It did not happen all at once honey,
It happened so slowly
I hardly noticed it.
But honey, I shrunk myself.
 
I was so big in middle school,
And getting even bigger. I was told
I was smart, and honey, I knew
It. I was told I was pretty, and honey,
I knew it. And I saw that the boys were big
Too, but they never breached my
Space. And I was loud, and they were loud,  
But honey, we were loud together.
 
But somewhere along the line,
The space in the air for my voice started to shrink.
It became exclusive. My voice
Now had to press harder to be heard.
And honey, I tried. But my throat became sore,
And my voice got so much quieter. And those boys,
Who I used to shout with, were shouting alone.
But honey, I liked being loud.
 
I lost the desire to be big, and honey,
My body knew it. There was only so much
Space for me honey, and my voice
Wanted more of it. So my body
Gave it up. As much as it could,
And sometimes a little more. Each skipped
Meal made less of me.
But honey, I started to like the feeling of hunger.
 
And the shrinking,
Is getting worse. I am addicted
To starving, and there are some days
When even I cannot hear my own voice.
I think my ribs have started to collapse
To make less space. And honey, it seems
Like there always is a little less space left for me.
But honey, I don’t know how much more I can shrink.
 
Honey, don’t worry the kids are fine.
Because I was so big in middle school,
And so were they. And honey, I was getting
Even bigger. And honey, I can’t tell you
how much I want to want that again.
And honey, I realize now that I could have done
Things differently. Pressed outward to meet the pressure,
But honey, I shrunk myself.