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1 " And those women were sneaky. They understood that including fantastical elements in their tales- golden eggs, signing harps, talking frogs- worked to mask a deeper purpose....it made the stories look on the surface like 'a mere bubble of nonsense' within which it was possible to 'utter harsh truths, to say what you dare' about the state of women's lives. Because they were just stories, right? Harmless little fantasies? "
― Christine Heppermann , Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty
2 " If you find the dividing line between fairy tales and reality, let me know. In my mind, the two run together, even though the intersections aren't always obvious. The girl sitting quietly in class or waiting for the bus or roaming the mall doesn't want anyone to know, or doesn't know how to tell anyone, that she is locked in a tower. Maybe she's a prisoner of a story she's heard all her life- that fairest means best, or that bruises prove she is worthy of love. "
3 " Gingerbread I knew I had to get out of therebefore the icing cracked and they discoveredthat I'm burnt around the edges,doughy in the center,that what they thought was sugaris salt.If I was a good girl,if I could satisfy their cravings, if every dream in my misshapen headdidn't bite, I might have stayed at the table.Wouldn't you run, too,from such voracious love? "
4 " But here's a great thing about stories: they can be retold. "
5 " You can lose your way anywhere. "
6 " How stupid that all I have to dois grow two squishy lumps and suddenlyI'm man's best friend "
7 " Rubenesque: the word for masterpiece curves. Screw you, unsalted rice cakes. "
8 " Nature LessonThe dress code sayswe must cover ourselvesinample pants,skirts that reach well belowour lascivious knees,polos buttoned overthe rim of the canyon,a glimpse of which can send a boyplunging to such depthshe may never climb back upto algebra.We saythat if a hiker straysoff the path, trips, andwinds up crippled,is it really the canyon's fault? "
9 " No need for a bunch of trees.You can lose your way anywhere. "
10 " What the miller's daughter should have saidfrom the startor at any point down the line is,no. "
11 " The Anorexic Eats a Salad Mountains rise, fall, rise again. Stars complete their slow trek into oblivion. A snail tours the length of China’s Great Wall twice. All those pesky cancers—cured. Somewhere in Lower Manhattan, a barista finally smiles. Roundworms evolve into ovals. Flatworms get chesty. Molasses, a tortoise, and sedimentation run the fifty-yard dash. Results pending. Temps plunge in hell. The devil waxes his skis. She has almost made it through her first bite. "
12 " Once there was a girl who longed to be brave enough to stick her finger down her throat, to measure herself by the teaspoon, to shrink to the size of a serving. Once "
