1 by cassandra de alba

Image by Aarati Akkapeddi

Tyra Banks in the Arctic Circle

Tyra Banks heard that hypothermia
was a good way to go, 
but now that her hands
are too numb to apply makeup
she isn’t so sure.
The wolves have natural eyeliner
and the ermines’ coats 
seem to stay luscious
without any leave-in conditioner
at all. Tyra Banks can’t
figure out what language
the caribou speak,
no matter how many accents
she tries, and there’s no WiFi
up here for her translator app,
not even 3G. Tyra Banks
spends most of her time now
huddled in a hole she dug
in the snow with a platform
Manolo Blahnik, gazing hazily
at the distant glaciers, 
blowing on her lipstick
to keep it from freezing.

---

CASSANDRA DE ALBA'S work has appeared in Skydeer Helpking, The Nervous Breakdown, Illuminati Girl Gang, and Vector Press, among other publications. Her most recent chapbooks are called Lake of Rage and Cool Trash Magazine. She is currently completing two graduate degrees, but still can’t turn a cartwheel or ride a bike. Find her at outsidewarmafghans.tumblr.com and @cassandraintroy.