Ada Aiken is a Secondary 2 student at Alexander Galt Regional High School. She won the cycle one Earle Birney Award for Poetry at the inaugural Galt Creative Awards.
When I was 6, I was taught
"sticks and stones."
That words didn't matter,
That I didn't need to care what others
thought.
Easy for a six year old,
Looking in the mirror.
I saw a girl,
With pretty pigtails unevenly placed on both sides of her head,
Who did care that they were.
A little girl with pigtails who admired the 13 year olds,
With cool clothes, and who wore makeup,
Looking up at them looking down on her,
That little girl with uneven pigtails so eager to grow up.
Now at 13,
I wake up each morning,
Only to mask my face in makeup,
And cover my body with baggy clothes,
So no one would notice my
Imperfections.
Looking down at a 6 year old girl,
With uneven pigtails,
Who didn't care that they were,
I ache to keep that innocence alive,
To let go of the hold that others' opinions have on me.
Looking in the mirror now,
I can only see my imperfections,
No longer a girl with pigtails askew,
Who didn't care that they were.
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