piano legs

her mother
told her at a young age,
that she had piano legs.
this did not sit well.
she carried it with everywhere
she went, like
a note pinned to her blouse.
but she was beautiful.
her dark eyes
matching her hair.
the lean lines of her face,
the twist and turn
of her dance.
a life of joy in spite
of what her mother said
about her legs,
still those words sat
in her ears.
even standing at her mother's
grave having finally
died, they were there,
whispering
that she wasn't quite
good enough.