Sunday, April 11, 2010

junkie

My first wax lips
from the candy bin at Chew's
made me feel dramatic. Seductive.
Tough. From the time I switched
from Lip Smackers

to tubes of real stuff,
I was an addict. I needed more.
It turned mundane to magic,
helped me find my muse.

Then came life of hardcore stick,
capsules of confidence, quick fix
of power stashed in glove box,
pockets, purse, and drawers.

This butt sprung girl still adds kick
to her patina. I love the trick
it turns, the journey in my head
with just a twist of red.




willow, 2010





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84 comments:

  1. oo..la...la. ust a splash of color goes a long way...smiles.

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  2. Lipstick is the one make-up I need-I'm never fully dressed without it! mmmmmm, must.....re.....apply.....

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  3. Oh la la is right --- I love those lines: "Then came life of hardcore stick,capsules of confidence, quick fix" . . .plain Jane to Vixen Vamp in a quick fix. Love it.

    This has been one of the best prompts, Willow -- for the collection of creative writing this prompt has inspired. Awesome

    Joanny

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  4. I simply naked without it!

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  5. It is exactly so for me as well! I cannot live without it. Love your poem, Willow.

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  6. Love the closing verse especially!

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  7. Love that last line "I love the trick it turns, the journey in my head with just a twist of red."

    From Lip Smackers to turning tricks (oops, I didn't say that, did I?!) — quite a journey.

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  8. i've always admired those folks who can casually pull out their lippie
    and apply it without using a mirror
    in two swift swipes

    i'm not one of them

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  9. oooo..."with just a twist of red"


    wonderful as always, my friend

    kary

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  10. I love this poem, Willow! Brava!
    It captures me as well.... I always feel so pale without somthing on my lips....even if I have no other makeup on, I must have at least some gloss!

    Open mirror, open lipstick or gloss, mmmmmm....smack - Voila - perfect!

    Have a wonderful Sunday!

    ♥ Robin ♥

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  11. you're so Marilyn Monroe... Daaaling! :) The Bach

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  12. Ahhhh....an ode to the lipstick. I do love mine.

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  13. The lipstick that can add the pizazz and color! If nothing else, always have the lip gloss or lipstick handy.

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  14. The last stanza(?) is exceptional. As are you, dear Willow.

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  15. A good friend once told me that a sure fire cure for feeling a bit down is to go and buy yourself a new lipstick...think she's right! Great poem.

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  16. Willow, Willow! You have perfectly captured the emotions we feel as young women tip-toeing into womanhood. I can't leave the house without it ~ seriously!

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  17. Wax lips to lipstick.

    I wonder what my equivalent would be.

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  18. I like the tone and style of this poem. Well done.

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  19. Dogimo, I was waiting for someone to ask about it butt sprung!

    Butt sprung: 1930's slang for a suit or a skirt out of shape in the rear

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  20. it is odd....
    you can do your face perfectly with your foundation,
    eyes, eye brows, and cheeks, but the
    'look is never complete with the LIPS.

    yes. i am addicted too.

    xxx

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  21. Nothing makes me feel more finished or polished than a wine color lip! :) I totally get where you are coming from. Great point of view.

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  22. I feel the same way wearing the big fat red wax lips as I do wearing red lip stick. Kind of like that with jewelry too. My chickens wouldn't care either way. I guess I'm not a girly girl anymore.

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  23. Ah, I remember those wax lips - amazing things - and Tangerine lipgoo for later. :) This piece is so powerful. The last stanza is a perfect seal.

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  24. "Just a twist of red."

    Perfection, Willow. The image is a lovely one (a lovely shade!).

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  25. OK OK, you lovely people can't all be wrong. I'm going to try it. I'm pathetically addicted to clothes as well. Mmmm... You get like that, people.

    Well-crafted lines Willow. As you well know. Craft is so important as a foundation to art. Well, not everybody agrees with that.

    Do you have a site for well-crafted rubbish verse? (mine) ATB, Bob

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  26. Dear Willow, What a fun and very evocative poem. Have we not all been there? You capture the mood and time so well.

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  27. oh thats a gorgeous chocolatey colour

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  28. Willow,
    'tis enough to set one a dreamin'!rel

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  29. And to think you weren't sure about writing poetry ( at first )...simply marvelous work, luv ;)

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  30. willow - so wickedgood - "the journey in my head". that has to be the dreamiest trip! steven

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  31. This is funny. Not for the reason you might guess.

    For some reason I only saw false teeth instead of lipstick.

    My glances are not what they used to be and I sometimes see things that are not there and never were but they play tricks on my brain and imagination.

    I had totally forgotten about wax lips until I read this piece. What did I ever do with mine?

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  32. Well that was the Cat's Meow Willow! I loved it! Lipstick is probably the most important cosmetic product in the make-up kit. Rejuvenating & prettying up pale puckers!

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  33. Wonderful again girl. I am older than dirt and don't care about the other make-up but the lipstick, can't venture out without it.
    QMM

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  34. Excellent concept poem Willow! A lot of ego in one amazing technocolour tube. Is this marketing or idealization or realization? Whatever we want it to be; we're all lipstick "Junkie"'s. Memorable. Very Indelible! Very Wearable!

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  35. This is just wonderful. Oh, how it brings back memories. I loved my strawberry lip smackers! I am watching my six year old granddaughter just entering the lip adornment phase. Her present favourite: Tinkerbell sparkly lip gloss. The love never really ends, does it?!

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  36. You sneaking pixie dust into your lipstick?

    When do I get to acquire a chapbook?

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  37. Wax lips...wow, does that take me back!!! I loved the poem; I, too, am a huge fan of the "capsule of confidence".

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  38. you are magic with the words - loved this :)

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  39. Hey, Jeff, I'm putting together a chapbook and should be ready this fall!

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  40. I'm still looking for the right lipstick and don't think it exists. Still I keep looking...

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  41. Hello 'butt sprung girl' - I loved this ode to lipstick. I'm never completely dressed until my first coat of lippy is applied

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  42. I so get it! I am different when I wear it. Now I'm gonna try it when I write - hmmm muse?

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  43. great poems. ode to lipstick as someone said. i cant wear it often as my lips always break out in cold sores.

    i did write a little essay once called "Lipstuck."

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  44. Here's a question for the male-gender types visiting this blog: what is it that WE do, similar to that touch of lipstick for the ladies, just before we leave the house? I guess it used to be, run a comb through your hair, but maybe that's not it any more. Any suggestions?

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  45. A fun poem & quite well-constructed--glad to see you're putting a chapbook together!

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  46. A nice tale of illusion and delusion.

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  47. Hi Willow, a wowser. I still remember my very first lipstick, the taste of it, how it transformed my lips. And yes, lipstick is the one thing I NEVER leave home without. It's magic.
    So is the poem, the play on vowel sounds, esp. the short "i" inlipstick.
    I'm going to post a lipstick poem on Magpie, you betcha.

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  48. I'm addicted to lipstick too. I feel washed and and colorless without it and perky and ready to go with it on.

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  49. It's always a treat reading your po-emz! Thanks for stopping by at Follow Your Bliss and leaving a comment about my painting, Bones of the Earth.

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  50. My mother always used to say "put a little lipstick on, you'll feel better." She had, as we used to tease in my family, "good liposity."
    Wonderful, Willow!

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  51. ps
    Willow--I'm glad to hear your wisteria survived the winter--I remember you saying you'd planted some. I'll bet it will become a beautiful fixture at the manor.

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  52. GORGEOUS color in that tube, and on your new header...
    a new tube of lipstick
    is to me
    like a brand new crayon
    is to a child.
    nothing quite so perfect,
    ready to be applied...
    power
    in that first stroke.

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  53. I love some of the lines here, especially the "capsules of confidence." Really well done.

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  54. Hi! Willow,
    Nice post...an obsession?!?
    Hmmm...
    Thanks, for sharing!
    DeeDee ;-D
    You got me lingering!

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  55. What incredibly beautiful blog you have! My compliments!

    A footprint from Agneta & Sweden

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  56. There's nothing better than a quick fix of lipstick to help me take on the world! Love this!

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  57. 'My first wax lips' Love it Willow. Rich and a little raw. First lines get me every time. You got your wax on in your accompanying profile photo too I see.

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  58. LOVE it...a splash of color enhances the mood!

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  59. I go nowhere without my lip gloss. Uh-uh. No way. Never.

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  60. ... with just a twist of red... nice Willow. And thanks for the memory of the old penny candy store barn I would visit each week during my summers on Cape Cod! I loved those wax lips. Very well written poem, great flow! Excellent, as always.

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  61. Was I the only one who chewed the wax lips?!!

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  62. Great poem, Willow, and I love the lipstick photograph. Very atmospheric for such an everyday article. I'm sure you're not 'butt sprung' at all!

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  63. I had a post a few weeks ago where I took pictures of myself with & without lipstick, smiling & looking serious. I was bored at work - can you tell? The lipstick picture won, hands down - it really does make a big difference!

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  64. That is terrific. I have a tube of Revlon called "Certainly Red" that does the same thing for me!

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  65. It certainly does that for me too!

    Christine

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  66. Wow. Uh, I know you like Edna but would you be offended if I told you I like this poem even better? Very tactile. Delicious!

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  67. http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/because-she-is-plain-magpie-tale/

    my first try,
    thank you for stopping by!

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  68. Capsules of confidence
    A quick fix

    Great timing and imagery. I lked this one a lot;

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  69. Isn't it amazing what a flip of the wrist and a little color can do for a girl!! Of course, for me, I have to have eye shadow...it's kind of my trademark!

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  70. Rum Raisin LipSmacker. To smell that again would be divine. You brought it back. Thank you for that. There is something so intriguing in lips blush. Is it natural, is it real, is it the linger of a kiss. And I wish to keep them guessing.

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  71. Hey, everybody, a big thank you from this butt sprung girl, for all your kind and generous comments. I have the best readers in the entire blogosphere! xox

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  72. Lipstick has a power all of its own. I remember graduating from Lip Smackers to Revlon. I felt all grown up with just one application!

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  73. "Capsules of confidence". Ain't that the truth! Mind you, I find I use more tinted lip-balms as opposed to sticks these days. There ought to be a cut-off point (say, 70?) where those reds are no longer used. Don't you think?

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  74. Fascinating look inside the power of, and the mindset behind, the use of cosmetics -- well written...
    ...rob

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  75. I don't know any females who don't have a lipstick within easy reach.

    Glad you defined "Butt sprung".

    Thanks for visiting my blog.

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  76. Hi Butt Sprung Girl,
    Sorry I'm so late but every time I've tried to access your site recently my hard drive revs up like its going to explode. (Strange, ever since you removed your hat!)
    Lovely final stanza with the rhymes. Ah, the twist of red!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)