Alchemy

I have mastered
alchemy of the flesh
with my apothecary
of cosmetics.

Bottles and brushes, powders and paints
my vanity, altar of transfiguration.

But this is no ordinary
amphibious transformation
that can be undone
with true love’s kiss,

no simple changing
of lead into gold;
rather, it is the pulling out
of a goddess from a sack
of skin, a bag of bones

a daily ritual of shape-shifting
within the crucible of my boudoir.