He begins with a clean shave
And washes and dries the skin
He covers the whole face with foundation
Then applies more foundation
For highlights
Then more foundation for highlighting
And shaping the nose
He applies contour makeup
To go around the face
He sets the highlights with powder
Then translucent setting powder
For the whole face
He sets the highlights again
He uses a piece of cut cardboard
For the contour powder
Then more contour to shape the nose
Blending and more blending
He brushes off the highlight powder
The eyes require the most attention
First, he must cover the eyebrows
He uses a pressed powder to shape them
He applies gel liner to each eye lid
He paints the eyeshadow just below the eyebrow
Then more eyeshadow; purples and blues
Then liquid eyeliner; then the water line
He adds more eyeshadow below the eye
With false eye lashes, he looks like a she
But she’s not finished
She uses an eyebrow pencil then
A fine tip liner for the hair in the eyebrow
She adds blush when finished with the eyes
With a lip pencil, she outlines her future mouth
It’s larger than the real one
She applies lipstick and lip gloss to finish her face
She puts on her dress, her nails, her jewelry, her wig
She has transformed into a towering goddess
From the poetry collection Men Are Garbage.
James Pack 