"The Price of Looking"

You could treat me better.

That much is true.

My friends gather
around the evidence,
holding up pieces
of a trampled heart.

They call it suffering.

I call it beauty.

Great beauty comes
with a price,
they say.

Not always nice.
Always looking good.

A cross to bear
in love's tangled game.

What can I do?

I could have chosen
someone less lovely.

Instead,
I keep paying
for the view.

.