She wears cramped shoes and pops the blisters later, draining the fluid from each bubble. Scrubbing down the raw skin until it bleeds, she washes away the pain with hydrogen peroxide, a chemical strong enough to sting and gentle enough to clean.

Let's hold hands down the avenues
plunge tango-esque into every mosh pit
and crowded street
dragged up in rouge and mascara
like renegades
androgyns tripping up
the same sidewalks
of the business suits
and briefcases
wondering if life is merely
a dream
or if we choose to paint it such a
wasteland.