Issue 10.1 Fall 2014

issue 10.1 cover image

 

 

Fake

 

Lindsey Rocks

 

 

You make your face a mask.
You cover and you hide.

 

An ivory foundation conceals your first boyfriend.
The one who told you he loved you,
kissed you under the stars in June
and forgot about you in September, once he was in college.

 

Thick espresso eyeliner, drawn above your spiderleg lashes,
camouflage your parent’s divorce
and the morning your father moved out.

His boxes, your tears.
The unanswered phone calls that will follow,
along with skipped dates and forgotten plans.

 

Bombshell black mascara streaked across your eyelashes
will disguise your emerald eyes of drooping from lack of sleep.
Up late trying to finish that essay
so you can graduate on time
to make your family proud
and to move far away from their reign.

 

A swipe of watermelon lipstick to cloak the kisses given by a boy
who is not your boyfriend.
A shared secret
displayed in a whisper, a glance, and a pink kiss.

 

The girl in the mirror is not someone you recognize.
She is a stranger, cold and perfect.

 

Who is she?
No one knows.

 

 

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