inherited
anastasia
is the prettier of us two sisters
for she has inherited my mother's looks
cheek bones, red & gayly smiling--
people love those who look like themselves
while I inherited my father's thick brows
sharpness in looks & of course inherited
the snobbish contempt plastered on our faces
beauty is pain
& my ugliness should not be dismissed
as a commoner's contriving complaint or
a simpleton's fastidiousness
for when father died, the pain she
screamed / harbored / fevered transformed
to a hardness surpassing sophistication
clasping the clutches of a rich man
who mourned for his late wife & cared
for his late daughter
a father for a father
who could love & cherish
but I am more of a shadow
then the whispers of his dead wife
flickering in the curtains
beauty is a process
so how can anastasia
and that rat ella be prettier
than I, the reminiscent of my
mother's late love?
our stepfather returns to the heart
of the sea, mouth closed and salt
destroying the heart (da-dub, da-dub)
& here ella weeps
but unlike mother
her features become softer
her slender hands flicked with grace
sadness forlornly suits her face
perhaps I am egregious or
fallacious in my thoughts
but she does not deserve that beauty
& as I compose myself
shoving her into the pile of ashes
near the hearth of the fire
I return to my room
paint my lips with rogue, line my eyes
& powder my face but as I gaze on
I wonder
who could ever love a beautiful face
lacking a warm heart?