So yesterday I attended a literary award ceremony, because I placed Highly Commended on my poetry division! Mom has told me that a lot of people want to read the poem so here it is:
She's a little girl
It's summer and
Her hair is long and
tangled
Her cheeks are
strawberry red
Her eyes sparkling
A smile dimpling her
face
She looks up to her
mother
A figure of
Beauty
Power
Sophistication
And says
"I want to be
just like you!"
Is she beautiful
now?
She's a teenager
Young
Alive
The smart one
The social one
The fashionable one
She sits with her
friends at their
Favorite
Pizza parlor
And says
"I'll have a
salad, please"
Even as she looks
Longingly
At the melted cheese
and pepperoni in front of her
Is she beautiful
now?
She's out of school
Sizing up her
competition
Applying for jobs
And getting
No
Response
She threads
And waxes
All the hairs off
her body
Applies all the
makeup in the world
But even though you
can't see it
It's still there
Her skin is red
Is angry
Is she beautiful
now?
She tries some more
Finally
Finally
She finds a company
that wants her
A weak smile from
her lips
Doesn't reach her
eyes
She's tired
Hungry
Her face pale
against the
Dark makeup around
her eyes
Is she beautiful
now?
The first thing they
say
When she walks in
Is
"Take off your
shirt"
"Take off your
bra"
Take off
Your
Dignity
But she can't say no
She needs this job
She peels
The shirt
Off
Is she beautiful
now?
She is at a dinner
party
Toasting her success
And then retreating
to the bathroom
Back arched
She sits on the
ground
And vomits
Her mascara
streaming over her face
Because she has to
She has to
She has to…
Is she beautiful
now?
She is called to the
runway
The last one to walk
She's glittering
Fake sparkles
Plastered to her
body
She steps
Onto the stage
The world tilts
Her ankle twists
She falls
And doesn't get back
up
Is she beautiful
now?
She is in the
hospital
The makeup washed
away
Her face gaunt
Purple circles under
her eyes
Her ribs stick out
against her skin
The doctors say
"You're
malnourished"
Her employer says
"You're
fired"
And she thinks
She wonders
Will she be
beautiful again?
I'm a published author now! YAY!
