Challenging Poetry

Pakistan: the dancing girl of Mohenjo-Daro

she lifts her head,
confident that her dance
will surpass
acceptability. she
is perfect in her craft,
although she seems very young
as I see her, a figure
cast in bronze,
shimmering with sound
from the bangles on her arms,
poised to dance,
and I know, in that city
without walls,
whose name is vanished
into the mound of river mud
it was buried under, she
knew her worth.
and it was great.

line count: 18

Author's Note ▶︎

As I was researching Pakistan, I was drawn into Mohenjo-Daro, which technically has enough in it's history to make me think of poetry, but I was struck by the statue of a girl that looks confident. It made me think that in this city, there were some women at least, in ancient times, who lived without fear. Which is refreshing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohenjo-daro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_Girl_(sculpture)