Narcissa

My great-grandmother’s vanity

Heavy with mirror and inherited femininity

It sat in my mother’s room

And when we were kids

We would sit at the edge of the mirror

And play with her makeup

One time, spilling her nail polish

A mauve stain still sits on the surface

Punished, we never played with makeup again

Then one day, it was mine

And now it sits in my home

With my makeup within

And I will sit there

Alone at the edge of the mirror

Crying in all my beauty

Crying over that mauve stain

Trying not to ruin my mascara

Hoping I don’t fall into my reflection

And become a flower by the lake