You Made a Choice (The Dressing Room)

Somewhere out there is a bright light

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit

Light that is blinding, piercing 

Piercing light, bedazzling girls

Girls who see color, vibrance

Vibrance and youth, petite and thin

Thin, one girl will say

Say something nice, another will pray

Pray she fits, the extra-small 

Small is the trend, wouldn’t you know 

Know what, someone little will ask      

Ask is it to be denim or suede 

Suede is out, cashmere’s the thing 

Thing of plastic, but then does it count

Counting threads and linen pieces

Pieces of junk, left to be compiled

Compiled still, girls murmur and cry

Cry throughout their illumination 

Illumination in their mirrors reveal

Reveal it all, in their devastation

Devastation in the dressing room, somewhere

1. John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, 1882. Oil on canvas, 87 3/8 x 87 5/8 in. (221.93 x 222.57 cm). Gift of Mary Louisa Boit, Julia Overing Boit, Jane Hubbard Boit, and Florence D. Boit in memory of their father, Edward Darley Boit. Courtesy MFA Boston 

2. Photo 2 is an original image curated by the author for this piece