Anais Vionet Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

pretty pollution

Fashion’s a verb
an action word 
something you do.

A subtle brush of blush
cheeks dusted with peach
eyes, smudge-framed with kohl

a soft fingertip of powder on the nose
so it doesn’t like-Rudolph-reindeer glow
A shimmer of glimmer arching over lids

A bit, a spark, of barely-there bronzer,
and on the lips, a trace of glossy color.

Alchemy or pretty pollution

Chasing radiance on tired skin
powdered to porcelain
Yesterday's bad decisions
hidden by good DNA
and makeup in a cliché 
of desperate optimism.

Disclaimer: Tell your doctor 
if you show signs of delusion
and begin to believe the illusions
.
.
Songs for this:
One Way or Another by Blondie
Rush by Troye Sivan  [E]
.
.
[E] = explicit song

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Vincine Fallica March 27, 2026 at 8:37 AM This is what you do: The poet Mary Oliver put it even more plainly in her poem “Sometimes”: Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. (from the NYT) Anais Vionet March 27, 2026 at 10:51 AM I like that (be astonished) =] I usually am.

Vincine Fallica March 27, 2026 at 8:17 AM Pollution? Make up? No. Well, maybe. For years, decades, I envied women their beauty and gender. Tried to buy it from Maybelline, Revlon, etc. As if it could be had from a bottle or a stick. Perhaps not so different from those I sought to emulate. I managed to do an acceptable job, I thought. Now with bags under my eyes and sagging skin it’s pointless. / Always thought rosy, pink cheeks and kohled eyes oxymoronic somehow. / So, <3 Anais Vionet March 27, 2026 at 7:30 PM You can cover under-eye bags with eyeliner - up to a point. I like 'barely there' makeup - but that shows my age - but for teens now-a-days glitter is BACK with heavy glitter and stick-on rhinestones. (meh)