When they told me I was a witch
and I believed them

I started stripping layers
to stay afloat

I liked to give the people
what they wanted

Approval powdered me
a milky Victorian

I could feed the whole village
on the whites of my eyes

with my meanest look
If I smiled I threatened pearls

my mouth an oyster 
open for irritants

For maximum loveliness I tried just
a suggestion of suction

I drooled on my mirror 
and nearly drowned

I grew these warts for my own sake
baked my skin on terracotta tiles

Shimmer and matte 
powered my hold

their thickest polymers
couldn’t hold me