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The Cost of Belonging
Folder:
Society You beg for their acceptance,
charging your way into their clique,
but the cost of belonging is your identity.
You are starving for attention.
They crave more than your body;
they hunger for your very soul.
When you are initiated into their gang,
you sign your name with blood
while they erase your fingerprints.
They give you a matching wardrobe,
hair bleached to blend in,
this month's crash diet.
A nip here, a tuck there,
a array of needles
placed under the skin.
They endeavor to change
not just your appearance,
but deep down to the core of you.
Everything that makes you
who you are has been removed,
buried under layers of makeup.
In those dark lonely nights,
you find it hard to live with yourself-
achieving perfection is hopeless.
Your worst critic
stares back at you
in the full-length mirror.
