Weakened Defences

by Jenni Marie   Aug 4, 2013


It's just another masquerade;

she's perfected them all too well
over time, lies spill easily from
made up lips, and the concealer
she brushes over her face every
morning like clockwork succeeds
in hiding every crack in her armour.

She can't remember the last time
her eyes were wide open, when she
didn't have to painstakingly apply
makeup to hide the blue and purple
bruises scattered across her form,
yearning always to go back to a time
where every step she took didn't
have her body screaming out
in protestation.

and it's only at night, when she's
safely hidden behind the bathroom
door, that she stands alone and broken
in front of the bathroom mirror, stripped
of her masquerade; with misty eyes
illuminating her weak defences.

*Baby Rainbow's Prompt Challenge

Challenge 4:

illuminate
weak defences
masquerades
white mist
eyes wide open

    report violation
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Latest Comments

  • 11 years ago

    by Poet on the Piano

    Could see this image so well, this broken girl who has physical abuse but also probably emotional... feeling she can never be whole. I liked how you wrote "stripped of her masquerade" because that expresses tons, no longer pretending or hiding flaws or having to conceal the loneliness that is raw and a part of her. Nice with the "wide eyes" too because it goes deeper than just picturing her not able to look at anyone openly, but that she may never be able to look at the world or go out in it feeling at peace with herself and who she is... even if she still hasn't found what will make the emptiness go away. A well-told and sad tale of this girl with those prompts.

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