She frowns at the reflection, so sad in the mirror

Smudged eyeliner, crimson lipstick, and a bottle of beer

Leather jacket over a laced, cropped shirt

Red stilettos and slick black mini skirt

She twists to the side, hands on her waist

Studying her depleted, too-thin face

Then she sighs and turns, opens a drawer

Downs three pills and steps out the door

Out of the apartment and into the street

Stomach starts growling but she can’t afford to eat

She heads around the corner and down toward the bar

Winks at men passing, striding like a rock star

She gazes around at all the smiling faces

Cringes at the empty words and shallow embraces

Reaching into her waistband, she pulls out a cigar

Sucks in the smoke and steps into the bar

She looks around for a moment, taking in the scene

Raucous laughter, flashing lights; she can hardly see a thing

She forces her face into a contorted grin

Hiding her pain, hiding her sin

Inside she’s dying, but no one will know

Even those people who she’s tried to show

Turn a blind eye and lift a deaf ear

They say, “If I don’t know, I don’t have to care”

She heads over to a man, heels clicking on the floor

Caught in a drunken daze, the chap staggers toward the door

She wraps her arms around him and puts her lip to his

In seducing, low tones, she whispers to him,

“Come with me, young man, just for the night,”

“I’ll give you love and we’ll hide from the light.”

But what love can she give when she has none of her own?

She herself is broken; torn up and alone

She had tried at a church once, tried to find love

The love of the Holy One, the one they said was a Dove.

She had crept in the back and sat in a pew

Stared at the squirming people; and they stared too

Whispers began, they thought she couldn’t hear

“A whore,” “a sinner,” “what’s she doing here?”

Though she was skilled in keeping tears at bay

It became too much, and she couldn’t stay

So here she was at the same corner again

Selling herself to another beer-laden man

You might have seen her, once or twice

She’ll be here tomorrow, if she’s alive

Or maybe she won’t, for the next day she sits

In her apartment, hands clenched into fists

Her lover has gone, paid the fee and ran

Like all the others, all the countless men

The ones who never loved her, despite what they say

Though she hated herself much more than they

Dripping from her arm, blood stains her jeans

From cut after cut, normally unseen

In her lap lays a bottle, filled with pills to the brim

She picks it up, stares, then empties the bin

She brings her hand to her lips, pills lying in her palm

Panic rises in her chest, and she struggles to stay calm

She takes a deep breath, tears wetting her cheeks

“Goodbye,” she whispers, though no one hears her speak

The pills in her mouth, she forces them down

Choking, gagging, the world’s spinning around

Soon it’s all over; she’s gone from this earth

Rejected, alone, deemed as having no worth

If you visit that corner, the one near the bar

You won’t see the girl, the girl with the scars

She isn’t in her apartment, she isn’t with another guy

She won’t be here tomorrow; she’s not alive

Though you may not know of whom I speak

The words are true, despite what you may think

For there are those who are broken and in despair

And someday you could save a life if you’d just care

Whether it’s something big, or simply a hug

Either way, it’s the same: Don’t judge. Love.