Beautiful & Cruel

I am an ugly daughter,

The one nobody comes for.

Mother says when I get older,

My dusty hair will settle,

My blouse will learn to stay clean,

But I have decided not to grow up tame.

Nenny,

Won't wait her whole life,

For a husband to come and get her,

Wants things all her own,

To pick and choose,

Easy to talk that way if you are pretty.

In the movies there is always one,

Who is beautiful and cruel,

Drives the men crazy,

Laughs them all away,

Power is her own,

Will not give it away.

I have begun,

My own quiet war,

Not to grow up tame like the others,

Who lay their necks on the threshold,

Waiting for the ball and chain.

I have begun,

My own quiet war, simple, sure,

I am one who leaves the table like a man,

Without putting back the chair,

Or picking up the plate.