Lipstick Poem by gershon hepner

If to kiss you’ve got the urge,
I suggest you do not splurge
on lipstick. Let the labia
entice possessors of the rapier
that you would like between your thighs
to that place you don’t advertise
instead of one that’s also used
for talking. If you are confused
by what I say, then go ahead,
but take it off when we’re in bed,
for lipstick, once it stains the sheets
can’t be removed by Masoretes.


Inspired by Kayleen Schaefer’s article “Hard Times, But Your Lips Look Great, ” in the NYT, May 1,2008:
Any woman with a few lines around her lips should be reaching for moist — not matte — lipsticks, said Kriss Soterion, the makeup artist who worked with Hillary Clinton before a New Hampshire debate last year. “No matter how you cut it, ” she said, “dewy looks young.” April Lane Benson, a psychologist in Manhattan who works with compulsive spenders, said there are two reasons why women would want lip color more than other affordable pleasures. Lipstick can be applied as many times a day as you’d like. “It’s very primal, ” Dr. Benson said. “The mouth is an organ of so much pleasure. Kissing is what you do with your lips.” Lipstick also helps a woman look poised, even when her bank account is overdrawn. “When women use lipstick in times of stress, ” Dr. Benson said, “they’re doing it to put forward an image that they are more alive and more vibrant, and not as down in the mouth. It’s part of the uniform of desirability and attractiveness. A shirt or a cup of gelato is much farther removed from that.” Melissa McQueeney,34, a fifth-grade teacher in Shelton, Conn., refuses to stop buying lipstick, even though her bills have increased considerably in the last year, mostly because of rising gas prices. Her fiancé has a 70-mile commute. “It’s how I freshen up, ” she said. “It makes me feel feminine, even if I’m in sweats and sneakers.” Last month, at a Sephora outpost, she chose a $6 gloss over one for $25, and held it up triumphantly as she walked to the register. “I didn’t even try it on, ” she said. “I’m just splurging.”


5/1/08