Theres a bench in a park. There — the steel one with the little holes. People will know if you’ve sat on this bench, they’ll be able to see the circles on your skin. This bench looks like a girl with long, brown hair. It looks like a new pair of converse for the first day of 6th grade with a sandwich packed for lunch. This bench looks like putting on eyeliner in 1st period before rubbing it all off on the bus ride home. It looks like growing up too late and growing up too fas

I’ve been dating again, and trying to fit in. Neither thing has been going well, not for me, and not for anyone in my wake either. At least I am very thin. I am blamed for my anorexia, although it wears me thin. I think I must have a bladder problem because it feels like there’s something really, really wrong, something deep within. You can’t control the weather, but you can control your pee. And that’s something that I’ve done, holding it all up and bottling it inside of me.

Trapped in my throat are words I wanted to say to people I wanted to know. But I forgot how to let the words go. You always know just what to say, and in just the right way. It makes me shy and flustered, which makes you go away. I wish I was like you. I wish I wasn’t so blue. Wish I didn’t feel like everything was a personal offense. Wish I wasn’t so out of tune. So tense, too intense. Always rushing into my next sentence. You go slow — careful with your words. Chosen and ra

My husband and I live together, but we sleep alone. He’s a large, burly man who makes me soup, and dominates me in his desires and his...

She loved her lips, the soft curve up and sharp curve down, coming together to form a cupid’s bow that could really be admired. Her lips...

I bought my first pack of cigarettes on my 17th birthday. “Don’t judge me,” I told the wrinkled lady behind the counter. She stared at...

As a teenager and a young adult, I often hated my mother. I still do, sometimes, hate my mother. I hate my mother for the things that she...

It’s stormy out, so my day has been slow. It’s always harder to do things when it’s gray. It’s 8pm and I’ve smoked weed all day and...