Little girl looked into the mirror
Her eyes filled with wonder
Her face glowing with pride
She grinned a wide smile at herself
As she preened and posed and angled
Her hair patted and coiffed with her father’s Brylcreem
Her pouty lips reddened with her mother’s Lakme lipstick
Her face flawless with her aunty’s foundation stick and highlighter
6 inches taller in her sister’s high boots
She imagined herself an air stewardess
Or was it an actress?
She was on the big screen now crying for the loss of her handsome lover
She twirled around in her birthday frock dancing to unheard music
Expectant, expecting – the world was hers for the taking
Little Woman looked into the mirror
Her eyes jaded
Her face puffy from the tears
She grimaced toothless and bruised
As she posed and angled for the policeman’s camera
Her hair matted down with blood
Her pouty lips swollen and reddened where she had been punched
Her face marked with her lover’s fists and highlighted with his teeth marks
He body tall and slender but her soul feeling like a midget
She imagined a day without pain
Who was she? Lover? Friend? Nobody? Punching Bag?
She watched her womb show up on the ultrasound screen now
Her unborn baby kicked to oblivion by her lover