I’m the woman inside the hourglass Shoveling sand down the drain No one notices me inside Laboring, slaving away It gets warm within these walls Giant fingers tap the glass Claustrophobia surrounds me As my heart races too fast Every grain is meticulous Each a millionth of a second They slip from my grasp in turn To the funnel they are beckoned My captivity’s controller Much crueler than he seems The walls in which he traps me Built of crumbling self-esteem Mountains split to boulders Springing forms of falling rocks Rocks deteriorate to dust Sand is left to carve my lock Melted down into a mold As red-hot molten as they come Shaped into a coveted figure A cage disguised as fashion Two shoulders and two hips With waist close to invisible Force the shape for beauty Scorching pain of branding crucibles There it sits just for looking As pretty sand fades with age Until it hits rock bottom Flipped for the next decade