A slow ritual of praying at her bare feet had begun on the occasion of the first time he saw her apply chapstick — the linoleum floor wiped with acetone, her cucumber skin, sacred red, bleach white and oiled slick. He found that it suited him to be that close to her black toe nail polish, his eyelashes lying perfectly on the glossy finish and even as he kissed the paleness of her soft marbled skin, all he saw was black as his eyes fell shut with hers. They dreamt of perfect oceans and places inside the piña colada glasses where nasty secrets didn’t seem all that bad. ~ fin ~ – Martha Grace Hsieh and Daniel J. Flore III