Ballet begins: pin thin teachers
Showing us proper ways
Instructing us to eat three meals
Per day, to stay healthy

Our spines snap crackle and pop out
Of place, boy do we ache.
To go pro, one needs to achieve
A slim and perfect shape

Pressure is what we live off of
The too-small leotards
And judging eyes, inspecting our
Figures for fat and shame

Our bathrooms carry the stench of
Nightmares, self-hating disasters
Fear crept up our throats as we stepped
Onto the taunting scale.