Lipstick Considered
Aah to have a blossom colored by lipstick—nature
Saluted and mutated by chemistry.
Elizabeth Taylor lipstick bloom, poet says
But which Elizabeth Taylor lipstick—the lush reds hints
In those brightly lit black-and-white movies—say Father of the Bride,
Or the soft blush fake-innocent pink from BUtterfield 8
Marking that mirror not for sale
And these blooms in the Arizona desert
Angling toward or away from the sun’s rays
Scars vast regions of America’s south & west.
We can only speculate
how blossoms bless their beauty or curse it.
How they bless this blush of red, this smear of pink
The lips once generous with flesh, now less so.
But the pot of color is discovered
That almost imitates those desert blooms
Their natural rouge. And the poet’s movie star
Shimmers in the night sky near her plane
Venus—seen so easily too far to touch.
Notes:
“Lipstick Considered” from The Beloved Community, copyright 2023 by Patricia Spears Jones, used by permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org.
Source:
Poetry
(October 2023)
