Red Star Beauty Supply

I told her I wanted smoky eyes.
She lit a cigar.
I told her I wanted a makeover.
She suggested mud pies.
I told her I wasn’t happy with my looks.
She took away my mirror.

I hang out there a lot.
One day I hope she’ll hire me, as cashier.

Mike James makes his home outside Nashville, Tennessee. His fourteen poetry collections include: Parades (Alien Buddha), Jumping Drawbridges in Technicolor (Blue Horse), First-Hand Accounts from Made-Up Places (Stubborn Mule), Crows in the Jukebox (Bottom Dog), My Favorite Houseguest (FutureCycle), and Peddler’s Blues (Main Street Rag.)