Letting Go – Damhnait Monaghan

She keeps her body under wraps – the fat, the bingo wings, varicose veins, wrinkles. She is dyed, blow dried, has lied about injections and imperfections. She is plucked, plumped, puffed, buffed, waxed…

…until the world wanes.

Now, alone, at home, she is chill, no frill. Her hair has roots, grey shoots that seem to suit. She winds a finger around her curls and something inside unfurls. She swirls in new clothes that caress instead of stress.

Her brows reinstate, her lips deflate, her smile returns.

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