By Barbara Castle Hanson

Cape Canaveral Branch, Florida

 

She stands,

left hand on hip,

before the bathroom mirror.

 

She applies her eyebrow color,

eyelid and lip liner

with the precision

of a painter of miniatures.

 

She brushes her hair

upside down

to add volume,

flips it over to smooth, style,

freeze with hairspray.

 

She steps into

crisp white pants and

coral sandals

to match her soft shirt.

 

Her armor on,

she summons her woman warrior

steps out

into the world

to face the tests

she’ll encounter today.