Mona Lisa Had Other Plans

given the choice of
beauty
or plain
i pick the latter
for what are the beautiful
things anyway
but muses for monuments
paintings, ageless tales,
stuff of legends,
bearers of scales

because that statue hasn't
a beating heart
and can you believe some man actually sat
trying to capture her
in cold stone with dead eyes,
a mockery
robbing her of what she was,
constructing his own instead

and some may say oh how wonderful
to be bound in the annuals of His story
forever like a goddess revered and yes
i would agree, would be an honor
if it were really she

and he even was so gracious to assign
her an ideal
and make her beauty in her blindness
part of her appeal

and so for my choice i inspired not
no followings created
but i was known for what i was
and therefore, celebrated.

-J