yesterday.... was it only yesterday
when silken hair was swept up
in a fashionable display
adorned ladies sat at regal meals
as they pecked delicately at tiny meals
Their cinched in waistlines
and coal black jewels
flicker of candle light on doll like face
looking so pristine, feminine,sedate
as they glanced pensively at china plates
dreaming of a future where freedom lay
in unfettered flesh, running free
happy and giddy not a frown in sight
except patriarch glare at unladylike display
where fathers listen when daughters speak
as they request equal marriage and their own carriage
but all must wait for another day
when ghosts of yesteryear take their leave
and only the future is in the mirror
no slight to those who passed this way
on a journey into history
they made their way
and only echoes remain
within these rooms
of many many yesterdays
©mallybward
M