Baby Girl

I did not think that you could look severe

But with vertical ribs to hold you in

You let them build the bars around you dear

A cage of crinoline

You wear whalebone

Second skeleton around your own

The edges are softened with petticoats

And lacy flairs lie in a flurried drift

Layers enough, you dare not walk, it floats

            Beneath the hem you lift

            A fragile foot

But cannot stray too far from where you’re put

I cannot recognise you under there

Beneath your hair set fast in rigid curls

How I loved you more when your feet were bare

Plaything of little girls

Now locked inside

Under the layer of makeup, hollow-eyed