Routine Skincare Regime

by Eliza Coco

The lotion promises
weightlessness. You will never be
a burden to those you love.

The boxed woman smiles
beautifully. You will never
dissolve into ripened parts.

Youth will not attend her
helplessness. She will never be
humiliated, cleaned by another.

The cream promises pure
smoothness. You will never die a
thousand, pointed daily deaths.

You will not cry out to
your grandchild. You will never
whimper, infant in her arms.

Perhaps

I should remain
unmoisturised. For I shall need
to learn to do all these things.

Eliza Coco is a fourth generation inhabitant of Ōtautahi | Christchurch, New Zealand. Poetry is her primary coping mechanism to balance life’s calculation content, which can get off-kilter during her day job as an engineer. She believes that life comprises a series of pictures and writes to piece them together. Eliza shares her work frequently at local events as well as regularly posting on Substack.