I woke up in someone else’s life.

I developed a phobia about leaving home

without being fully made-up.

Discovered a beauty and gym regime

that took three hours a day.

Found I could walk in platformed stilettos

and dresses with tight, short skirts.

Forgot the nuances of poetry

in favour the unambiguity of an auto-cue.

Learnt that a Californian sun-kissed skin

(spray tanned) should not wear a deep claret

or allow a square-jawed, would-be celebrity

to remove the dress, lick where wine spilt on skin.

Better publicity is won by looking available,

but not by being available.

Yesterday is history. Surface glitter is seductive,

but fades on the second date.

When you’re among stars it’s easy to forget

the gutter is but a broken heel away.

Emma Lee’s “Mimicking a Snowdrop” is forthcoming from Thynks Press and “Yellow Torchlight and the Blues” is available from Original Plus. She blogs at http://emmalee1.wordpress.com and is a blogger-reviewer for Simon and Schuster. She also reviews for The Journal, Elsewhere, London Grip and Sabotage Review magazines.