by Sarah Terzo

Created on: July 31, 2009   Last Updated: December 10, 2011

"After the Husbands Left the Table"

Excuse me, but
for just one brief moment
behind that bright lipstick smile,
I thought I saw
fangs, bred for biting
in jaws like a wolf,
hungry to be baptized
in hot, sticky blood.
I thought for just a second there
I saw curved talons
neatly curled under
your filed nails, so
elegantly painted.
So much paint we wear, don't we?
Ruby lips and shadowed eyes,
beige liquid to conceal every blemish.
We can't be seen, we must
"put on our face."
Oh, all that war paint
gotta get it just right.
And on your finger, too, a diamond.
How lovely.
Diamonds are hard, you know.
They use them to cut steel.
Oh, now they've come back.
What is that, honey?
No, I'm fine.
Excuse me.
Just had a little
too much wine.

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