Craig Rozniecki's poem sets two ideas of beauty side by side and asks which one deserves the word. The first woman has every feature people usually praise: golden hair, blue eyes, an athlete's legs. The refrain "the definition of beauty" repeats like a checklist. Heads turn when she enters, but the moment she speaks, she stumbles, and the spell breaks. That night she lies facedown in bed, sad because no one is looking at her anymore. Her beauty, the poem suggests, depends entirely on being watched.
Then the poem turns. A second woman wakes up "pasty and obese," and the speaker describes her in blunt, unflattering terms. Yet she teaches children with smooth words, intelligence, confidence and dedication, and the refrain returns, now meaning something different. The tone is quietly pointed rather than angry. By repeating the same phrase for both women, the speaker invites us to question the shallow standard we usually apply, and to see beauty in what someone does and gives to others.