---

I dream of farther things

I do.

Sometimes, I wish

To be encased

Quietly

In a marriage I have not agreed to

And

In those conditions

Find my freedom:

In a complete strangers eyes

I think it easier

To do that

Than to hold the expectations

Of generations before you;

Hold the expectations

Of a whole nation 

In the center of your palm

To float,

To dream, and

To apply,

A dark, red shade of lipstick

In a vanity mirror

Is all I wish to be

And if I am to be shamed for that,

Well,

Well then I must hide, of course; for now

But one day,
One day, 

I will confide in it

As if it were my lover alone.

---

This is,

Mary