There once was a three year old girl
Who took baths with her brother
A giggled when her mother popped bubbles
As she watched her children play
While her father lay on a bed
One room away
And drank red wine
And watched his family
And smiled

There once was a seven year old girl
Who took her first shower
And missed baths with her brother
But now he was nine
And they were both too old
And her shower was too long
And her mother got mad
And the girl went to bed early

There once was a nine year old girl
Who learned how to get up early
And shower before school
And wash her hair
And get clean because that’s what showers were for
And she never missed her brother

There once was a ten year old girl
Who hid in the shower
Because her mother was in the hospital
And her brother was gay
And her father was mean to him
And so she would hide so she wasn’t hurt
And she played with pencil sharpeners at school
And got in trouble
And was always sad

There once was a twelve year old girl
Who cried in the shower
And was afraid of her parents
And her brother left home
And her father was always tired and mad
And her mother never smiled
And no one had time for her

There once was a girl who met a boy
Who was so kind
And stopped her crying
And let her hide
And cheated on her
And broke her heart (if she even knew what that meant)
And gave her the courage to cut in the shower
And the boy told her about a different girl
Who cut deeper
And was much better than her

There once was a girl
Who cut in the shower
And passed out one night
After crying because she couldn’t cut deep enough
And her parents didn’t look for her
And her brother never found out
And she bled for an hour
And woke up

There once was a girl
Who got out of a shower
And thought about all the things that had happened to her
And wrote down how many her shower had masked
And her parents didnt look at her
And made her take pills for being stressed
And the girl knew she could die and her parents wouldn’t find her for days
Because no one would check the shower