Just Pretty

A magazine clipping on the mirror tells me

That I am the “Girl of the Moment.”

Which moment? This moment?

This blinking of my eyelids

As I stare into my drooping blood shot eyes?

Most of my pants are too tight now

And my face is pallid, and graying under the eyes.

I critique the girl in the mirror.

This girl,

In moments past, was told that flat abs

And protruding collar bones

And provocative dress

And eyes outlined black,

Face powdered to perfection-

This was the way to get noticed

By a boy.

In this moment she has rebelled.

She wears a Led Zeppelin T-shirt and crew sweatpants

No eyeliner, no powder.

She hasn’t worked out in six months

She doesn’t give a shit.

The magazine clipping that is taped to the mirror

That says, “Girl of the Moment”

Comes from a world of dolled up angels,

With beautiful faces, bodies and attire.

But this girl in this moment doesn’t understand

Why if she’s pretty,

Why she tries so hard to be pretty.

Why if a boy is pretty, he is just pretty.

She’d like to be like the flying man

On her Led Zeppelin T-shirt,

Naked and Liberated,

Pure and unmasked.