The Truth of a Teenage Girl

This article was originally published in the February 2026 print edition of The Bark, distributed at the University of Minnesota Duluth campus.

The pain of choices we can’t make

Our futures destined before we live

The vulnerability we’re forced to be ashamed of

The red pouring from our souls

Willing the pain to end

Making irreversible decisions of maturity

Choosing monsters over men

Forming to what they believe is acceptable

Being seen as breakable

Well, forced to be indestructible