I am not cruel, only truthful.
—Sylvia Plath
GIRL considers shrouding the mirrors
in black (mourning) : the two in the bedroom
from head to toe : the one above the sink
with a small opening at face height (utility) :
GIRL considers beating them with her fists :
her hammer (violence) : all agitation
of hands : like the terrier that once seized
on the hardwood : eyes a wide body of water
(terror) : GIRL considers her (joke)
favorite sexual fantasy : she is not touched
& does not want to be : GIRL as stone :
or maybe bone : like the teeth strung
into a necklace (macabre) : the ribcage
found in the field : curved like a ship’s hull :
bleached white : picked clean : no meat
on it (envy) : GIRL as clear as water : GIRL
as empty : GIRL as her (hyperbole) favorite
non-sexual fantasy : head tumbleweeding
through the air : no body to ground it :
like a gift to Langwidere (puerile memory) :
GIRL’s puerile desire : to be small enough
for the wind to take her : the erotics
of being taken : of allowing the taking :
GIRL who can’t take her own advice : to be
silver & exact : not a mirror swallowing
all it sees : not the lake she dives into :
& turns monstrous inside