The Song of Frances Bean

Pictures of her as a baby
red face in tears
In the arms of a tall black drag queen
Lives on in millennial infamy
As her beautiful blonde
Yellow-haired parents stumble along behind.

A fascination with death and the cold empty
Solace is gone by sixteen as she grows up
bombarded by smiles and notes.

O Frances Bean, the damsel of punk
I look at her within glossy pages
She stares back at me with her indifferent eyes
Her lips parted begging for me to hear her
Praised for a tragic legacy
Never mind her own song

Gabriela Maceira is an emerging writer and an MFA Creative Writing candidate at The New School in New York City. Her work has previously been featured on Queen Mob’s Teahouse.