Behind the paint

Hands behind her back, the zipper hisses as a snake disturbed. Black gown slithering to the floor, a crumpled heap of diamantes and silk.

No more the filaments of fabric obscuring flesh blemished from the harshness of years.

Sitting at her dresser she stares into the mirror.

Lies.

Green flecked eyes reflecting paradoxical enigmas; Alice looking through the glass.

A thousand personas. Fractured self refracted by perception. Splintered shards of being, gathered within feeble parchment.

Each is distinct; each is separate, yet conjoined.

She wipes away the waxen red of her lips. Fullness fading; now smudges of sallow cracked pink, pastel shadows echo a thousand falsehoods spoken.

Fake eyelashes flutter, black spiders spiralling earthwards. Dead expectations. Used. Discarded.

Cotton wool pads smear shimmering sparkles of promises lost, away from tired eyes.

Colours of dreams imagined merge into streaks of disarray as hope and prospect mingle, as indistinct as soft falsehoods once whispered with bated breath.

Cleanser washes the city dirt, the dry cream and cracking powder from skin too long expose to fret and frown. Crow’s feet creep, long tendrils reaching out towards throbbing temples of greying hair.

Solitaire earrings, diamonds of love, earlier given, long past. Another life. Still worn in optimistic anticipation that futures destiny may yet smile once more. Gently set upon the shelf, a symbol of remembrance and hope alike.

Both to be cherished.

Now naked faced, laid bare, open, soul exposed. Shadows of age, ravages of time, wisps of days past disclosed. The harsh light revealing honesty.

Nothing now hidden, concealed, camouflaged.

Life exposed, fortitude eternal.

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