Pretty

You are as pretty as I left you

You have more spine than when I had you

Your knees don't clench the ground when a man walks by anymore

Your mouth is no longer an invitation for foreign objects

Yet you are still just the contents of your purse

You are nothing more than a portable vanity

Fly by night beauty

Coating your bruises with glamor and grace

You tell people it's makeup

And I can only agree with you

Because you make up whatever story you have to

In order to protect your face from the wrong kind of contour

Remember that your pretty isn't enough to stop a hand from unfolding it ugly

Your spine is still long enough to fracture

Your knees will always find the newest ways to break

And your teeth aren't unfamiliar to your mouth so your throat may not mind swallowing certain things

But maybe your purse is deep enough to hide all of you from the next pain to come along