"Perfection"

Can you hear the voices whispering?

They scream out just one thing.

They want that whole perfection

That happiness can't bring.

They cry out for your blood to spill,

They don't believe there's another choice.

You have no way to fight against them,

Slowly you lose your voice....

The first time I heard the voices whispering,

I was barely just a child.

They told me I needed to grow up,

And stop being so wild.

The next time came when I listened to them,

I learnt the ways of being "ideal".

The voices called for blood,

And expectations made me cut to feel.

Suddenly more voices joined,

As image became what I knew.

But everything in my image was wrong

And they all screamed "I hate you"

The voices told me to weigh myself,

But they didn't like the fat.

They pushed away food, all in control,

No doubt about that.

The starving seemed relentless,

The blood poured more and more.

But I was too light on the scales,

And they pushed me into the floor.

Broken, I sat there, all alone,

Till they told me I needed a mate.

Only they told me to search then to stop;

That I couldn't push my fate.

Next challenge came; to be "beautiful"

And the struggle began again.

I spilt my blood relentlessly,

But to stop? I don't know when.

As more pressures pile up,

As the voices grow to yell.

The blood pools up screaming imperfection,

And you need to say farewell.

They need you to be a perfect one,

Perfection in the eyes of all.

If they see a single thing wrong with you,

Off the cliff you'll fall.