Vain

Embraced by those who like the way she looks,
Ignored by those who can’t see what’s behind,
She sways between the body and the mind,
And vacillates between the boys and books;
Her peers, with vapid eyes, dig in their hooks,
Persuading her with pressures most unkind
To fall in line, to do as she’s designed–
To be a glamour queen before the rooks.
In twenty years her beauty starts to fade,
Inconstant lovers leave her body numb,
Her heart beats its regrets: an empty drum;
The intellect she felt compelled to trade
For vanity still lingers, overcome
By shame for all the choices she has made.