Dear make-up,
thank you.
Thank you for being
a blindfold
to the hungry eyes,
a bandage
to the fresh wounds
a towel
to the naked girl,
thank you!
Thank you for contorting
an appearance
as painful to the eyes
as my own skin,
thank you!

This
is an ode to you, make up.
you’ve allowed me to make friends
with my UGLY, horrid reflection
that grows on glass
making every reflective surface
uninviting
yet incredibly addicting.
the T.V. glass tells us
our bodies are distorted
the mirror glass sends us
reflections contorted
the doctor tells me I’m healthy
my eyes tell me I’m diseased
with the dire infection of
the uglies.
side effects?
thick in the wrong places,
teeth decorated with braces,
hair prevailing,
skin scaling,
attempts to appreciate reflections
are unavailing
upon the sea of ugly
I AM SAILING!

so I must thank you,
make-up,
for deterring that reflection.
because nothing burns my eyes
like seeing my own complexion.

My favorite type of make up
is probably the foundation
the foundation of fear
you help to make ALL of this clear
to predators that they are the hunters
and i am the deer

or maybe it’s the cover up
because if you don’t cover up
you’re both a potential victim
and a sl*t

or maybe my favorite is the lip stick?
sticking my lips
closed
because any woman who asks for equality
is just sooo
annoying, right?!
damn feminists,
what do they know?

And those moments when i wash
all of the dirt and make-up off my skin
I also scrub off
the number on the scale beneath my feet
the weak, inflicted smile on my face
the inferiority shown on the TV
the unrealistic
unattainable
expectations of beauty
and the cat calls
and booty calls
77 cents and that is all
The “c’mon just do it for me”
the “she deserved it, didn’t she?”
…

Once I rinse them down into the drain
scrubbed clean off my skin
bare face
naked soul
I must thank you from within
for always covering
and contorting
this creature
so pure and raw
because, of course, her imperfections
are societal flaws.
…

I cordially thank you,
For carefully applying
society’s affliction
upon my bare skin,
because God forbid,
if I really saw my reflection

I might even see

a woman.