Showgirl

*Trigger Warning - Suicide*

She swung a wire across a city street

And waited ‘till the winds were raging, then

She braved the drop ‘midst ice and storm and sleet

The papers said, a feat not dared by men.

She took a blade and sank it down her throat

Then drew it back, and lived and breathed unscathed

She wore a nest of vipers like a coat

And hissed delight, and in their venom bathed. 

She triumphed over tigers’ teeth and claws

No danger great could wallop her stern will

We drowned her vast bravado with applause

I often wish we could applaud her still. 

But after conquering every natural strife,

She thought, what else to do? — and took her life. 

About the Author

Julianna Reidell is a first-year English and French major at Arcadia University. She has received gold and silver medals for her humor writing and poetry at the national level of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Her work can also be found in the magazines Teen Ink and Stone Soup, as well as on the teen comedy site The Milking Cat. One day, she'll write a novel.