beauty is skin deep
say mother teacher elder
but you know better because you are beautiful
your body curves and dips in every beautiful place
your check bones make beautiful
your lips make beautiful
your eyes make beautiful
so do your lover’s
so they do to everyone who wishes they could feel a fraction of your lover’s love
your lover hesitates
looks at you
looks at the others
you hate the hesitation and shatter your beauty mask to reveal blood and water from your eyes and
pulse from your wrist
your lover does not understand the pulse from your wrist
angered by the water from your eyes
your lover tries to glue the beauty mask back on to cover up the pulsewaterblood
but pieces keep falling off
he refuses to take responsibility for breaking you
leaving another to clean you up and try and glue the beauty mask on
or worse, leaving the job for you yourself to do, alone
as your lover relishes the clean, unbroken beauty masks of the others