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Vanity
On a painting by Frank Cadogan Cowper
Vanity is such a silly vice.
She drapes herself in velvet and brocade.
Her long blonde hair and rope of pearls cascade
below her waist. She doesn't ask the price
of cutwork oversleeves stiffened with braid
or diamonds glinting on her hands and brow,
not stopping to consider when or how
or in what coin the piper must be paid.
At first her upturned chin and downcast eyes
suggest that she's embarrassed to be scanned,
an icon of reserve and modesty--
until, on close inspection, you surmise
she's glancing at the mirror in her hand.
The man I live with thinks she looks like me.
Susan McLean
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