Shannon in the Light

This isn't bad, she thinks
This isn't bad
There's nothing wrong with this

I'm young
I look great
I'm doing what lots of women do
I'm entitled to this
I'm allowed

But once she hears the word 'allowed'
She knows that's what it really is

She allowed herself to do this
But now she feels like it was a bad idea

Like a parent letting a teenager
Take their new car
Out for a spin

She didn't feel this hesitation
While she was setting up the camera
Or putting on the red lingerie
Or arranging her bedside lamp
To give herself
More illumination

Then she started thinking about the purpose of this

These photos

Would she send them to anybody?

An ex-boyfriend, maybe?
An old flame?

Or would she save them
Until a new guy came along

Maybe she should wait until then
To do this

No

If she waited
She'd never do it

She gets the camera ready
She strikes a pose
She feels...

Ridiculous

But, like
Good ridiculous

So she snaps the photo
And then another
And then another
And then another

She doesn't even stop to see
How they turn out

She just keeps taking them
And laughing

And with each shot
She feels less dirty

Less old
Less fat
Less wrinkly

And more...

More like she was right when she thought--

This was something
She needed to do

Something she'd been needing to do
For a long, long time