Flakes fell all over me
as I tramped to the meeting.

I felt a new type of beautiful.
Baptized in iced wax.

Men turned to look.
Women shook their heads.

Albino peacock, I sauntered
into the office and chairs swiveled.

In the glass pane, I checked
my cheeks, five wild rivers

of mascara severing my smile.
Remarkable how I can walk

cut up through my hours
and no one speaks of it.

Lauren Davis is the author of “Each Wild Thing’s Consent” (Poetry Wolf Press). She holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and her work can be found in publications such as Prairie Schooner, Spillway, and Lunch Ticket. She is also an editor at The Tishman Review and teaches at The Writers’ Workshoppe in Port Townsend, WA.