“Mona Lisa” – Poem by Mackenzie Wilson
To all my sisters, I am sorry
For I spent years trying to differ from you
To appeal to the gaze of men whom I don’t respect
Yet yearn for their affection
To be singled out by their mind
Why should I care if a man finds me beautiful
When I would not value his opinion on beauty of any other kind
It would not be that kind of man who I turn to in a gallery
To hear his thoughts on the art
Because my sisters, my sisters
If they put my portrait in the Louvre
It is only you who I hope view it
Only your estimation that I revere
When you look upon my face I hope you find beauty
Not because it’s different
But because it’s similar to your own
I hope you know that I am looking back at you
With the same admiration in my eyes
Mackenzie is a writer from Vancouver, Canada. She is currently based in Paris, where she’s pursuing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Kent’s Paris School of Arts and Culture. Her work spans fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Inspired by the streets of Paris and the Pacific Northwest, she writes to map the spaces between homes, both real and imagined.
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