War paint

My warrior paint
comes in expensive little bottles
that promise youth

white cream streaked
across sun-spotted cheeks that
crinkle with glee

layers of invisible

masks promising protection from a 

wild western world

that tells me 

how beautiful I am though

its never seen

my real face.

--
April PAD Day 6 - not as they appear

Beauty crowds me ...

a lovely stranger pressing his
skin against mine
in the crowded
subway car at rush hour,
nudging me ever so slightly
during the curves
of my commute
as if to remind me
not to forget
he is there

--

Creative Bloomings prompt 160: Emily Dickinson

Whether vain

She liked to think that
she went wherever
the wind happened to take her

blowing like a leaf into
bars and bathroom
stalls with any man who

glanced her way and made
her feel like
she might actually be beautiful


---

April PAD Day 18 - weather