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Yeh-Shen’s golden slipper kept shrinking one inch Smaller until it found its rightful owner When footbinding was in vogue in China, the most Desired shape was the three-inch golden lotus It took two years to achieve this revered shape, girls Had their feet bound from the age of five or six Sometimes binders opted for a slightly softer Shape – the butterfly or cucumber foot This depended on how much pain girls could withstand & how hard they’d resist But, by & large, when it came to their Daughters’ futures & marriage prospects, Mothers did not give an inch. *Yeh-Shen was the name given to Cinderella in the Chinese version of the tale Jeanna Ní Ríordáin is a translator from West Cork, Ireland. Her poetry has appeared in Quarryman Literary Journal, Drawn to the Light Press, Swerve, New Isles Press, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Burrow, and Otherwise Engaged Literature and Arts Journal among others. Instagram: @wordy89 Comments are closed.
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