Photograph, Nineteenth Century
that woman                         that picture 
the images of beauty and softness 
of something that shouldn’t be touched 
that couldn’t work             that can’t work 
the sepia toning                 oh how ancient 
oh the dependency            oh the degradation
my mind has been cluttered 
society’s a bastard 
I can’t see the women 
I see the hat            the feather 
the adornments of beauty 
the preposterous impractical way 
she has been made to be seen 
and not heard 
she’s only an image 
she was forced with an image 
is it a shame            is it a sin 
and now I’ve been tainted 
with the knowledge of society 
with the knowledge of it’s motives 
and now I can’t even see the beauty 
I can only see the oppression 
oh, it’s not like that anymore they say 
as I wipe the make-up off my eyelids 
and wonder who I’m trying to impress 
  
  
Copyright Janet Kuypers. 
 All rights reserved. No material 
may be reprinted without express permission. 
  |