Lipstick

I am crimson
Creamy, smooth, opaque
She twists my base
And I rotate in ascension
Bathing my peak into light
(Fluorescent and harsh)
She applies me to the soft petals of her lips
And curves them upward
Sly grin
Then lacquers me over in gloss
We walk downtown, and I let her shine
Turn her pout into an obsession
Pulsing beat in the club
Awakens the shake in her hips
And his arms snake around her
She pulls his hand into her
Manicured fingers
And lunges to a sweat-darkened hallway
She lip-prints me on his cheek
His lips
His lapel
Drags me across his chest
Down his legs
For a long while
She finishes, smiles, murmurs a sleepy “call me”
And I leave the hotel (splayed across him)
In the men’s restroom at Sunoco
He wipes my smudges from his body
But doesn’t bother to change
It’s midnight when he returns home
Sidling into bed with his wife
Leaving his suit in a pile on the floor
With me still printed on the lapel
Read cheeks smiling sweetly
In the morning, he rises for work
His wife gathers his laundry
Then pauses…
Shock wrinkles her face
As her finger lingers on my bold red print
Plastered across his lapel