Woman In Chains

Woman in Chains Inner child blinks back tears through the cheval glass At a bruised reflection staring back, Battered by the hand of perfection, Wearing chains in glimmering pearls deception, Beauty and the beast - beauty now turned beast - Though in the grip of vogue, Restrained designs fettering creativity, Beneath the veneer of outlandish style, Wears hand-me-downs; Wounded dove, kissed with a rose from the mist Gasping on the runway of perfection Beneath the blazing sun of cutting tongues Behind made up faces, Disappears into a chalice -fiery crucible - Of coveted, borrowed, chains – A dark kaleidoscope of shifting shapes and sizes - Of stolen sublime – esteem devoured – ravished - In runway parades of opaque flawless delusion Skin hanging from a bony dress frame Of starving wings scarred by black veils of distortion With the salt of conformity heaped onto tender wounds Searing tender flesh reaching out In manacles for models of the meticulous Bound up in chains of unforgiven imperfection Forged in expectation’s subtle abusing links With parables of precise precision Handmaid designed by faultless perfection unseen the in the reflection Till, clothed in a sheath of a new creation, Slips out of leg shackles, greased by grace, The inner child in somersaults soars on wings re-stored. About 30 million people suffer from Anorexia Nervosa – both women and men. It can be a fatal disease effecting heart, kidney and liver functions. It is most prevalent in teenagers and young women. Anorexia took the life of singer Karen Carpenter, ballerina Heidi Guenther and model Isabella Caro. Princess Diana suffered from Anorexia. The recovery rate is very low – about 20%. This is definitely the story of Beauty and the Beast. 8-26-20 Contest: Woman in chains 30 lines