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Sunday, April 11, 2010

MaGPIE TALES: SMOOCHES



(MAGPIE TALES)

Smooches


My first tube of Tangee
lipstick tasted like Florida
sun and turned my lips sun
-kissed as citrus,
turned my head
again and again to look
at myself in the mirror.

I blew a kiss
to my image,
as if I were Sandra Dee,
holding my Tangee
tube inside my fist
like ammunition!
I was going for the heart,

watch out world,
I warned,
prissing around the house
till my mother said wipe
that lipstick off now
and come help
me fix supper.


The dishes done,
I headed back to the mirror
to turn my lips
into Lola's (whatever
Lola wants,
Lola gets)
and daydream about
all the lips waiting
for me to kiss.

Over 50 years passage
I blow a kiss
to that girl in the mirror
who blows it back,
teasing me,
Pucker up, Babe,
And don't ever
leave home without
Avon's Spiced Coffee
or Cover Girl's Sultry Sangria
!

26 comments:

Vicki Lane said...

Oh, that Tangee lipstick! I remember that. And waiting for the new Revlon colors to come out - Fire and Ice is one I remember.

Love the poem, Kay!

christine said...

Loved this and did a bit of puckering up myself with various colours when young!Still do!

Christine

Brian Miller said...

smiles. a wonderful poem...a shade for every mood...lips so full of life.

Tess Kincaid said...

I love "...daydream about all the lips waiting for me to kiss". Delightful memories, Kay!

I just read Eavesdropping from your Catching Light, which came in the mail Saturday, and wondered if you might post it for Magpie.

Jan of Thousand Acres said...

Delightful, and seductive too! Ah, Tangee, the memories. Love your poetry!

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Isn't it amazing how these scents and tastes and colors stay with us till the end? Fire and Ice, I don't remember that but I love it already. It also reminds me of what fiction writer Gail Adams said, "Compose with fire, edit with ice." Yum.

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Hi Christine, I do love lipstick and can hardly wait to get home with a new tube. I've been known to open it in the car and use the rearview for my mirror. No patience when it comes to lipstick!

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Brian,Lips are sort of strange, when you think about them, what they do, what they mean. How did we get them? And were would the cosmetics industry be without them? They really are full of life, the more you think about them.

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Hi Willow, oh, I was a great day-dreamer as a girl. And I've always loved makeup, its transformative power. I should have gone to work for Estee Lauder!
How interesting that you have landed on Eavesdropping. I began that after hearing a tel. call while in the bathroom at Red Lobster. I couldn't get it out of my head.
I'll see if I can locate a file of it for Magpie. If not, I will type it in. Thank you, dear Willow, for ordering my book! That gives you a lifetime of gold stars in my book, and if I could, every lipstick shade on the planet.

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Sun Dance, I have a friend who says her first lipstick was Tabu, and I always thought of that as a fragrance, but apparently she is right. Maybe I will post her poem about it.
So enjoy your Ceres blog.

rel said...

My oh my how I loved the girls who wore lipstick.
Hmmm....still do, matter of fact. ;)
rel

Anonymous said...

What we don't do as kids growing up. Reminds me when I was in the fourth grade and wrapped up in the stage curtains with Janice and the the kisses were hot! :) The Bach

joanna said...

Oh nice poem -- sure brought back memories, my best friend mother sold Avon and we had access to all those free little samples of lipstick. But alas, had to wash it off before going home, father thought I was too young to wear lipstick..while we teen age girls were "dreaming about all the lips waiting to be kissed"

Joanny

Steve Capelin said...

Ahhh. Girls and lipstick. I wonder what it is for boys? Too scary to think about!

Stella Jones said...

I still remember my first lipsticks. Your poem took me back in time. For me it was not a chocolate extravaganza however. In my youth it was white! White lipstick and black eyes, my that seems a long time ago.
Great poem, great memories.
Star

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Star, I remember white lipstick, and very pink lipstick that was almost white. We looked like ghouls! We also wore bee-hive hairdos. Oh my...
And to have a friend whose mom sold Avon, what heaven, all those samples, Joany. I can't remember at what age I was finally allowed to wear lipstick beyond the confines of house. And small heels, and hose. There was a timeline for all of that back then. Not anymore.
No, no, little hat, let's don't go there...
Rel and Bach, you naughty boys! But those stage curtains really did wrap you up if you weren't careful. All sorts of things could go on....

Catalyst said...

Yes, Katherine, you've done it again! Great memories, huh?

Catalyst said...

Sorry..of course, I meant Kathryn!

Helen said...

I loved, simply loved this! Going to be 69 this Fall and naturally Tangee was my first and the only lip color my mom would let me use! All of those gazes into the mirror, the puckering, the fantasies .... you brought them all back!

Peter Goulding said...

This prompt certainly has been an education on lipsticks! Nicely told tale.

chiccoreal said...

Dear Kathryn; I do love this poem
Smooches" how it encapsulates
the mindset of the young woman;
"turn my lips
into Lola's (whatever
Lola wants,
Lola gets)
and daydream about
all the lips waiting
for me to kiss."
As women we've all been there; hours preening in front of the mirror; trying on adult lips. You've captured the 50's sex-goddess via makeup promotional marketing and what is with Tangee?Pat mentioned this colour in her post. I will have to look this up his colour. I have the feeling it may have an orangy quality to it. Did you grow up in Florida? Lucky! Was there a famous actress who wore this shade? I remember Slicker by Yardley during the 60's Flower Power with Twiggy. It was a whitist shade like skiers where; sort of athletic for the stick Twiggy. The song went "Slicker Over, Slicker Under, Slicker Alone". Do you remember that? I still think I look athletic when I where this white lipstick. Dont think others think that way!

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

fun magpie,
I used a few times,
it adds confidence to one's psych,
but it is fun to think about it...
Happy Wednesday!

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/because-she-is-plain-magpie-tale/

my first magpie,
I wrote a poem too,
hope to have your opinion down!
I appreciate your time!

Unknown said...

Oh you too with the tangee! Welcome to my world! I almost hesitated to read and comment as this is noted as one of the best poet blogs. Fine take on this tube of lipstick that is far from the days of Tangee! Loved it!

Anonymous said...

There is something so exhilarating about a good lipstick. It makes you feel ready for anything. I liked the image of blowing kisses in the mirror. It is something I would have done!

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