---

---

Try a slightly deeper shade than the one you used on your
lips for a warm, gorgeous suffering. Dab the powder along your lashes
and the oval of that, your only, face.
A hint of pinky beige on your lips makes you look well-rested,
like you just came back from a vacation
in which persons who died long ago might have had their home.

You can clean almost any visible surface with just the push
of a button. Roomba sweeps and vacuums hardwood, linoleum,
tile, low-pile carpet, medium pile carpet, slate, and other nonjudgmental
people in your life. I describe this for I have learned to doubt philosophy
and the visible world is all that remains.

You will experience the results you've always wanted.
Our doctor-approved pill will actually enlarge, expand,
and lengthen your dumb beasts, who graze
in the deluge without lifting their heads.

But the best part is when you reveal yourself
to the woman in the sleepy fields.
When she sees all your futile speech,
your century of phantoms, your Fornerina coat,
your Everlast skirt, your Blue Asphalt shoes,
she will surrender all her silent questions:
do the dead see in one symbol all that occurred later?
Want more prescription medications?
We are visited by a zillion cool misfortunes, but
does that mean you should stop being smart, witty,
and fashionable?

© 2004 Jacob Eigen