#cosmetics
~
*Imagine a box
In shadow
Of utter regalia
Iris, dressed as a waterfall
She comes scattered
Imagine an eyelid illusionist
Praying for more palettes
Enters steelbook cathedrals
To a ministry of colour
For the street outside
Cannot offer as
Interesting a hue
As those fascinating within
The pigment of her imagination
It's compelling artistry
Like oil on canvas
A slight of hand
Smoke and mirrors
Her skilled fingers
Kohl mining
For soft medley
And the new liminality
Above the spectator's eye*
~
Jun 7, 2022
Jun 7, 2022 at 1:02 PM UTC
I knew her before
She coloured her hair.
She'd wash and brush,
With a simple part down the middle.
I remember it falling silently over
Her shoulder blades, down her back.
It always looked like that,
After a full day at the lake.
And I knew her before
She used cosmetics
The way they're used this day.
Her cheeks glowed with youth,
Her brows arched like shorelines;
Lashes balanced droplets
Over rushing ruby lips.
I knew her to play tennis,
To swim, run,
To laugh and be fun.
I knew her
With lights on,
At dusk and at dawn.
I knew her for long.
I knew her so long.
May 11, 2021
May 11, 2021 at 5:42 PM UTC
The eyeshadows
Of her favorite color palette
Were every bit as neoteric
As they were triturated
--broken to pieces
Inside a mailer
Without bubble wrap
May 20, 2020
May 20, 2020 at 12:16 PM UTC
With this brush in my hand
I paint new visions
New possibilities
New forms of escape.
It can not be denied
That I am an artist.
It's a tool
Not a weapon
A medium in which I have control
Complete autonomy
If only for the day.
It's not an advertisement.
No part of me is for sale
Now or ever.
I'm not being dishonest
By choosing how I present myself
Nor is it about you.
This reflection is artwork
Any interpretation is all your own.
It's all a product of my own liberty
And it runs much deeper
Than you might want to admit.
Within these simple brushstrokes, I run free
An untamed beast
With brightly-painted claws.
I am not caged
By the stripes that I create.
Oct 28, 2018
Oct 28, 2018 at 5:54 PM UTC
Symmetry deficits call for chiaroscuro.
Highlight the summits,
and diffuse shadows at the vertex
of cheekbone and mandible.
Colour the apples, rubescent as newborn flesh,
and soften edges for a gentle definition.
If you paint claret from bow to corner
it can create something fuller; induce desire-
Valencia can bleach the blemishes.
Liquid or matte lies in pesky furrows
and rots like carrion in warm weather:
remember to blot excess sebum prior.
Are you pneumatic? Applications can support you-
with enough you can acquire
something ample for a decade.
Look to the lens. It winks;
raise brow in a clean cut, diagonal
from nostril edge: the playful frame apertures admire.
Flash.
Share with friends:
refresh/close/open,
and sigh at affirmations.
Jun 29, 2018
Jun 29, 2018 at 3:18 PM UTC
Those red lips,
forged by MAC
are but only one color
in the endless stream of
existing shades.
May 8, 2016
May 8, 2016 at 9:21 PM UTC