Marianne LaValle Vincent

Solitary Shades

Sometimes I can still smell
His cologne
He always wore Polo
But he would tell me it was his
Natural Scent
Afterwards
He would take long showers
Because I wore Calvin Klein
And his wife could smell
The difference
He never liked my choice of
Perfumes
Or lipsticks
He wanted me to wear
Bright red gloss
And smell of Dial soap
I hate red lipstick
Makes me feel like a
Tramp---I prefer the purity of pink
And Dial
Makes me
Itch
In the end
He said I was
Unpredictable
And demanding
And he needed someone
Who was less
Independent

I saw him shopping with his
Wife
Last week
She was buying
Estee Lauder lipgloss
#28 Claret Red
And walking behind
Him
And I hid
So he wouldn’t see
My latest shade of
Liberation

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