She wrote her Sadness into Beauty

and kissed the tears from its cheeks;

with gentle hands,

wrapped it with a marble blanket and

laid it down to be smoothed

into a sculpture

to relieve both of them from the sin

of being ugly.

 

But her Beauty became a different monster;

Beauty’s touch coaxed her

onto the operating table

to be modeled after society’s standards.

with a stone smile, Beauty

rearranged her clay insides

into pretty pulp.

 

Then Beauty stole the scalpel

it was carved with

and when the girl tried to escape,

her Beauty pressed the scalpel to her throat

to carve her into Beauty, too.