[An experiment in Sapphic stanzas]
Looking healthy, smelling like fruit or flowers —
false intentions denigrate life unpowered;
simple pleasures ought to be more respected:
nature unleavened.
Can you tell if people are all they promise?
masks we wear are certainly all but honest;
Here a nose, and eyes that are retro springtime:
genes all but wasted.
Teeth so straight that nobody’d guess the tangle,
Liposuction trimming the waists of starlets
girdles thinning heroes and ancient roués
silly ambition.
What if all we had was our own appearance?
What if our real selves could be loved regardless?
Then perhaps our lives could take humble pleasures
Simply for granted.

