Blue Lips by Valerie Parente

Something about the cold
and how it makes my lips blue.
Something about the frostbite
in being so crude.

I vowed to be explicit
in everything that I do.
I vowed to be so cold
to every man that swoons.

Don’t touch me,
I’m made of ice
and you’ll be frozen too.
Don’t touch me,
it’s my demise
from the fear I have groomed.

Yes, there’s something about the cold
and how it makes my lips blue.
Well at least when I’m cold
I’m the color of you.

– Valerie Parente (1-27-2022)