Proverb from the Island of Pre-Existing Conditions

The worse you feel, the better you will look.

On the worst days, go all out:
                                           accessorize
                                     spritz
                               gloss
                    contour
           powder
conceal
the pain yields to ritual
                                       (if you force it hard enough.)
The mind learns what it is taught --
the body is a dumb animal.

(Of course it’s exhausting,
that’s how you know it’s working.)
 
Hopelessness, too, is a sickness.

So don your body armor
and a white rose in your lapel
and pump a fist at the disinterested sky
and pack down the bad air inside
like so much gunpowder.