Putting on your makeup

Has been kidnapped by smart phones.

Ransoms are paid monthly,

Don’t worry, it’s done automatically.

The kidnappers will send you alerts

If your eyebrow pencil is in danger.

They will text you a request

To update your personal information

Skin tone, age group, sexual identity, eyeliner.

Make sure to

Add a backup e-mail account

In case you forget your eyeshadow.

Answer all security questions:

1. Your mother’s maiden blush
2. Maybelline is your father’s middle name
3. What was the name of your first pimple?

Type in the right code, if you can.

You are beautiful.

You are not a robot.

All attempts to hack into your face

Have been blocked.

 

 

 

Elan Mudrow lives in Portland, Oregon. Elan studied writing at Centrum, a partner of Copper Canyon Press in Port Townsend, Washington. Elan’s works have appeared in Von Reuth, Anotherealm, and Writers for Calais Refugees. Elan now seeks an M.A. in English at Portland State University.

An upcoming book, Rain Desert, is due out by July, 2016