Hate's End

She stood in front of the mirror
With lipstick in hand. Deep red.
She ran it over her lips
Again and again.
Way too much.

Then she ran it
Over her checks,
And her eyes,
Slashing it at her face.

She wanted to make herself
Look like the bitch
She felt she was
The bitch that she is.

She looked into the mirror
And stared at the face
Which stared back at her;
The eyes blank,
Nothing there

One would have to look deep
To see the sorrow in her soul
To see the hurt which cut her
Like a knife

She had been betrayed.
Sold out.

She dressed carefully
And went to work
As she always had

She stood and listened
To the words they said about her.
Her retirement ceremony.

She looked at the sea of faces
Masks.
Leering, laughing,...
“poor old thing, she was so stupid”
“the bitch, she got what she deserved”

Afterward, she drove to a spot
Along the coast where she stood
And looked at the ocean.

The truck came around the bend
And raced toward the spot.
She took one last look at the sea
Then walked in front of it.