Vanity

She sits in front of her vanity
Not thinking about the beauty she is willing to erase
Applying societies acceptance onto her face

Waves of self-consciousness
Absence of happiness
Using what she learned from the men in her life for the “better”
So around her neck hangs a scarlet letter

Covered with the scars inflicted by the life she chose to live
For it is more than her love that she has to give

She looks for love in all the wrong places
Searching the lost and lonely faces
For that person she can love and will love in return

So she looks at him and asks, “We’ll always be together right?”
He kisses her, shrugs, and says, “As long as you keep that figure tight.”

She looks at her father in his eyes and asks, “Daddy you’ll always love me right?”
And he replies, “As long as you don’t tell mommy what happened tonight.”

Her love was never enough
It is her sex she has to give up

So yes. She sits in front of her vanity
Not thinking about the beauty she is willing to erase
Applying societies acceptance onto her face


"Inspired by Sex without Love by Sharon Olds"
Christina S. (Period 5)