AFTER THE LIBERATIONby Rayanda

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters and events portrayed in this work are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

AFTER THE LIBERATION. Copyright © 2009 by Rayanda Arts. Protected by a Creative Commons license: You are free to share and distribute this work for noncommercial purposes provided you retain attribution to Rayanda Arts and make no derivative works. This notice of copyright must be retained on any electronic or printed copies. For more original writing, photography and fine art, please visit:

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After the Liberationby Rayanda

She's enjoyed being nineteen

these past ten years,

but it takes longer nowadays

to get made-up

into a post-liberated woman

of the twenty-first century.

She arches her brows

to pluck the years away,

after erasing her troubles

with expensive creams

paid for by

she can't remember

which lover.

She thinks nothing at all

of making over the truth

to seduce the mirror

into telling lovely lies.

She leans a little closer

to bleach her mustache,

then steps back to tease

her freeze-dried hair.

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She brushes her teeth

bright and clean,

to talk dumb and dirty

to the men she

teases and pleases

into escorting her

to all the places

she can't afford.

Not with bills,

ever coming

bills to pay.

She banged up

her car again.

One more blemish

she brushes aside

with her designer blush.

She paints a pretty picture

with ultrasoft mink,

transforming two pale lines

into plump, ripe beauties

a little too good

to be true.

That'll do.

There's no time

for critical thought,

only for one last look

before she presses

her lips together

to kiss her creation.

—Rayanda

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