Already my daughter’s looks
are something to bear.
Gold hair heavy
on her small shoulders.
Eyes big as burdens.

She can’t escape
people looking at her,
so lets bangs grow
over her face
like thick curtains
almost closed.

Once, on the street,
a man touched
the glowing tip
of his cigarette
right to the center
of her forehead.

A crazy man, you say.
But I know
it was beauty
leaving its hot kiss.

-Francesca Bell, Blue Lyra Review

Tagged: beauty, Blue Lyra Review, Burdens, Burdens Francesca Bell, contemporary poetry, cultural representations of female beauty, daughter, daughter poem, Francesca Bell poet, literary journal, mother poem, motherhood, motherhood poem, poetry, the male gaze