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LADIES IN WAITING
Endless rows of bamboo chairs
empty sets of black licorice stares
from little girl eyes
whose lights have gone out,
emberless pairs
of almond-shaped hearths
no spark or flicker
the flames all drowned
in countless tears
for little lives bound
like legs to chairs
and naked bottoms
hanging in air
raw as open wounds
passing feces and water
unpraised, unwiped, unloved,
each daughter
unmade a little bit more
each day
a silkworm in reverse
cocooned in a baby girl curse,
each tiny life
a fusion of waiting and pain
- Peter Scheponik
Chinese Footbinding