~ photo by Stephen Radford

A Mirage
by Jenny Katherine Luu

It was a moonless night
on the Las Vegas strip.
The pleasure hotel was hidden
behind a magical mirage of smoke.

The stripper who looked like an angel
looked in the mirror with regret.
Her face glistened under the candlelight.
The flames danced in her eyes –
her eyes smothered with mascara.
The rose she held in her hand
glistened with her teardrops.

Petal by petal, the rose fell –
Her regret reflected in the glistening mirror.
Her face was that of oblivion.
She struggled to breathe
under the smothering smoke.

There was never pleasure.
There was always regret.
The angel stripped away her clothes
and disappeared into the smoke.

The hotel smothered in flames,
burned to the ground
hidden behind the mirage.

There was never pleasure.
There was always regret.
Nothing glistened.
Nothing glistened
in the moonless night.

 

(poem based on a writing exercise using repetitive keywords)