of hair and teeth

hey there spindly legged woman bundled up
caught inside stare snares,
lie sideways down on the ledge.
they'll all sit across from your perch,
some will find you beneath ridiculed skin,
and maybe someday you will look into a restorative portrait,
and speak through the layers of hairs concealing you neck to cheeks,
lips pulled back for fish hooked smile, as if this was a choice encounter.
we weren't so different at birth, now you hide hide away beneath downward eyes,
hair in your face and into your throat,
guarding nets against the pills that will suppress the stories to tell,
if such features are imbalance then we should be rolling off the hills,
look down when you live under the big sky.
live inside outside to outgrow the old self.

"Cinderblock Girl," 2007

mixed media on canvas