Your Lipstick and the Long Walk Away

you put your lipstick down as you stepped back from the mirror,
Red, like your heart used to be once upon a time.
Like a fairytale the door closed behind you, shadows once again,
And off you walked in the rain to speak another man's name.

You smile and nod and speak the perfect words,
But your eyes are somewhere else.
Another frigid day in the house of the absurd,
Why will I not burn while all around me melts?

Impossible to stand when the sand beneath you is sinking,
You reach for the noose; it's the only rope in sight.
But you pull yourself up again, not your idea:
Right foot, left foot, after all you've got your orders.


~JAD