Skinned

It had been reworked. I cannot claim it was a great picture to begin with, but it was me for that moment…a slightly drowsy look in the eyes, a tentative smile. These are both very me. And it had an anachronistic red lipstick.

The picture was transformed. I love photo-art, but when I saw the face something felt wrong. The eyes, although they had been darkened, had a hollow look; the mouth had been embedded with more red that spilled out. There wasn’t any hesitation here; I had been given a certain in-your-faceness, but trapped in a portrait effect where the skin cracked.

I felt like barren earth that had plastic flowers poked into the crevices.

No plants to water. A re-creation that cannot even afford thirst.