mycenaean blush

"We have always been like this"

a 6.5 foot tall plaster cast of a female Mycenaean face with traditional makeup, ~1300-1250 BCE

In Mycenae,
girls painted suns on their cheeks—
small, red, deliberate,
as if to say:
Here is where the light lands

I do not believe they did it for anyone
but themselves.
There is no record of it;
nothing about men insisting,
yes, like that.

Just girls, somewhere,
finding tubs of scarlet pigment
and pressing it into skin
until it bloomed.

Because it was something bright.
Because it was something warm.
Because it felt good
to look like something burning.

It started all the way back then;
girls playing with beauty
just to see what they could create.

I see her in front of the mirror,
lifting her hand up to her cheek,
dotting vermillion in the shape of a small sun,
watching it catch the light.

I imagine she smiled.
I imagine she ran to show her friends.
I imagine the joy
radiating like the hand-drawn daylight adorning her face.

We have always been like this—
reaching for something that glows,
holding it close to the body, 
saying: here,
take a little light for yourself.

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This is my new ancient Greek obsession. Prepare for an inundation of writings about this lol

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Here are some recent posts I like a lot if you want to read more of my writing:

leaving town

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