headshot
by diy danna

She submitted her headshot to Vogue,
a bullet wound through the face
courtesy of Adobe PhotoShop 6.0
and the Editor wrote her back:

“Dear Madmoiselle,

You may need to seek professional,
psychiatric help. ”

Her headshot rests on the table
next to the letter in a frame.
She still hasn’t found a place for it.
She glances in the mirror
with mild disapproval of her countenance.
Her once beautiful face is becoming concrete
etched by those lifelines slapped
across her once supple, now nubile cheek.

He was always drunk and always
sorry afterward. Especially that night-
when he jokingly held a 12-gauge to
her painfully beautiful face.