Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘the emperor’s new clothes’

After He Left the Emperor,

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on April 27, 2014| 6 Comments »

the tailor comes to your town
and says he can make you
the finest new clothes—
clothes that will make
even you beautiful.
You want to be beautiful.
All your life you have felt
ugly, unwanted, unseen.
You ask him what
the clothes will cost.
He tells you, anything I ask.
And who is it in you
that forms the word yes
and agrees to his drastic price?
It doesn’t matter. The
word is said. You
force your body
to do as he bids.
You learn to crave hunger.
You learn to lie.
You spread for him
your wasting thighs.
You make of your belly
an empty bowl.
You lose your moon.
You’re always cold.
But the clothes he makes you
never quite fit. They
are always too tiny.
You are always too big.
And every day you imagine
leaving him. But you don’t
remember how else to live.
When did your world collapse?
It’s so small, so small in here.
Who is that woman in the mirror?
God, you hate her, you hate how she looks.
Every day you promise some part of yourself
that you’ll find a way to escape this warp,
this place where nothing is ever right.
But you’re scared to leave him.
And you’re scared to stay. He shows you
the newest clothes that he’s made.
They are tinier still, so striking, so fine
and with a thin smile that you
have grown to hate, he says,
Come now, don’t you want to be beautiful?

Read Full Post »