she left them bare
her fingers got fat near the end
in another lifetime she perched me on the kitchen table
slid her thumb and forefinger through a pair of gold scissors
and snipped my bangs brutally short
her feet were swollen and purple near the end
she left them bare
but demanded we always wear slippers
even in the dead of july
they caked her face with makeup at the end
and her lips were painted tasteless peach
but she did have on that dress
the one she wore when i was little
while she snipped my bangs brutally short and made me wear slippers in the dead of july