Velvet Dreams

Where have they gone

those days of satin hopes

and velvet dreams

lacy and fanciful

frilled and shirred

girlish plans and schemes?

Shredded and torn

forlorn wisps of

once regal gowns

youthful fantasies’

beaming faces

fade into frowns.

Who will restore

the glimmer to

jaundiced jaded eyes

stripped of their fire

chilled, and dampened by

cool compromise?

Weave the silver

threads of maiden prayers,

ideals spun of gold,

awake charming princess

to honor radiant

and virtue bold!

Copyright Rebecca Stewart 1997

The challenge to young girls approaching adulthood is even greater than it was when this was written. 
At that time, I had just read, 'Reviving Ophelia', and was concerned about the transformation I had seen in my lifetime. In a supposed attempt at 'freedom of expression' girls were being encouraged to cast aside those values that had served women well for millennia. They were being hollowed out,  misused, resulting in painful self-doubt and self-loathing that could only be resolved by finding a new and fulfilling vision of womanhood. They needed a vision based on virtue and strength of character that renounced the shallow stereotypes that Hollywood and the media proffered.