Vanityfair

So many girls

come and go

of face,

indeed very fair

fair and vain

—vain enough to get mixed up

in the game

a game played by men

with big purses,

bigger dreams,

and opprobrious conducts

so many girls

came and went

bent to scorn

and disease,

braved hunger

till malnutrition

intervened

some bent to needles for oodles of cash

some came solely for few spreads

on that vanity-fair

some of them only made a dollar

a handful were a sex symbol

two or three

mastered the game,

and thus remained in the arena of lights

blinding lights, exciting nights

enticing class

so many girls

bought into that life

of lights and lies

newspaper headlines

Hollywood pop-icon types

so many girls

lost their lives

trying to fit into a box,

a thin line of perfection

imagined by fanatics

where self love lacks significance

and double digits on the scale

an epithet of greatness,

of beauty, of sexism

of Vanity!