Beauty queens of all shapes and sizes
The trumphet has sounded
Come out from your world
Of self-deception
For the real beauty contest
About to begin
Your crowns of paper
I do not recognise
Crowns won by parading nude
Before lustful judges
And whistling watchers
Supple flesh and body statistics
Are not all there is to beauty
Nor are artificial smiles
And practised dance steps
Deep down beneath the skin
Lie the qualities of true beauty
Qualities which combined
With looks and stagecraft
Make a girl a hit
I know of only one beauty queen
in the whole wide world
She is my girl
Smashing inside and dashing out-
side
My girl is the most beautiful girl
in the world.
Isaac Umunna
EDITOR’S NOTE
Originally published in Citizen on 22 Jun 1992, p. 36. This diplomatic transcription preserves the wording and lineation visible in the archived page.