portrait girl

zaynah shah

a bound plane of soft white medium

within a terrain of stitches and strings

posture stiffened by a wooden corset

angles straight and tied up by silver rings

synthetic hair tied to a sturdy mast

dipped into pigments folded to a paste

adds layers on an inviting canvas

rise and fall leaving no detail misplaced

confined to geometric parallels

she awakes conscious only to be trapped

by the holding sharp strokes and rigid lines

keeping every aspect of her kidnapped

with each oval added her eyes open

two spots in her world that allow her sight

hazel irises view the captive world

but craning her neck makes her see the plight

caged in the background of a fair portrait

dotted flowers appear around her hem

magical and surreal almost as if

she was caught in a place built on mayhem

a cruel punishment for a world that she

had never wanted to live in and yet

living in a beauty she could never

appreciate smoke of a cigarette

a silhouette unwillingly living

restricted to peripheral vision

unable to understand her purpose

pondering her worth in split decision  

hundreds of years may slowly start to turn

from the inside of a glass case she waits

for a day she may break from the hardened 

shell that traps her in cold museum gates

body glossed over and limbs protruding

from a shape she never chose to live with

muscles aching but no voice to cry out

yearning an escape while living a myth