The Polite Monster

Ary by Dalmatian Nation

Words by Aanchal Vachhani

It walks beside me, sweet and prim,

A silken voice, soft, cold, and grim.

"Stand up straight, don’t speak too loud,

A lady’s grace should make her proud."

It smooths my dress, it tames my frown,

It clips my wings and pins me down.

"Eat much less—be porcelain thin,

Only the small ones ever win."

It ties a ribbon round my throat,

A leash disguised as something gold.

"Smile, obey, don't dare defy,

A good girl knows to pacify."

I shrink, I bend, I start to fade,

Yet still, it grins, so unafraid.

"You and I—we’re one, you see,

Now be the thing they want to see."

I lunge to kill—its lips curl in delight,

And as the blade sinks, I taste the bite.

A Word from Aanchal:

This poem explores how young girls are shaped, restrained, and molded into docile figures of "perfection"—how the ideals of politeness, beauty, and obedience are instilled so deeply that they manifest as an internalized force, a specter that haunts our every movement. The monster is not an external enemy but the embodiment of the rules imposed upon us: the demand to be graceful, small, and pleasing, even at the cost of our own agency. It dresses its control as elegance, its shackles as ribbons, and its voice as guidance.

Yet, at its core, The Polite Monster is also about resistance. The final act—both violent and cathartic—questions whether we can ever truly rid ourselves of these ingrained expectations or if they have become too much a part of us to be slain. The poem speaks to the feminist struggle of reclaiming identity from the clutches of social conditioning and the bittersweet nature of defiance.