Bitter Lipstick

[karmic radish]

Here is a summary of the poem:

The poem uses the metaphor of lipstick to represent obsession. The speaker seems to be infatuated and obsessed with another person, but they are incapable of real, and true love. Instead, their desire manifests itself in a twisted, almost lustful way.

In ‘I love it’, ‘It’s Smooth’ and ‘Stunning’, the speaker first describes their lover's lips painted with red lipstick in vivid terms, comparing it to lava. Even angels, those above the earth would cry if they saw such a beautiful colour. And the devil, who is in hell, seen all of the earth’s core, has never worn the colour. This shows how the speaker holds the lover’s lips in high regard, and shows the beginning of this obsession. Besides seeing the red-painted lips, they hope that the lover’s organs burn, so that they can see the redness inside..

The speaker and their lover are intimate, and their passion is heated. However, the speaker’s obsession goes deeper - they start to imagine the lover's insides as also being red, and find the colour beautiful.

In ‘Unmatched’, the speaker see the Lover wearing the lipstick. They see their lover as innocent, but the lipstick they had put on is so ‘sinister’. This is due to the obsession starting with the lover’s red painted lips. The speaker admits that they are starting to get obsessive.

In ‘Addicting’, the speaker imagines the lover’s heart, with blood gushing out. They hope that when they are able to see the colour of their lover’s heart, it would be able to be a perfect match in fueling their twisted desires. The speaker is starting to get unhinged.

In ‘True Beauty’, the speaker admires their lover’s body, saying that the small lipstick container they have is not enough to capture the essence and colour of their body, and starts to imagine themselves tasting their lover’s insides. Despite it being creepy, the speaker finds joy in fantasising and savouring the twisted passion.

In ‘Deep Desire’, the Speaker dreams of withered flowers. They are red in colour, just like the Lover’s lips. It shows that the obsession is starting to seep into the speaker’s dreams, every night. However, the speaker is unable to reach and see the flowers, as they are withered away, almost dead and the redness disappeared, it is just a dream. Though they hope their lover has sympathy for them, they realize their desires are a trap and are unforgivable.

In ‘Poison Apple’, the Speaker thinks of themself and their lover as a victim. As much as they would like to change, they cannot do so as this obsession is getting to their head.

In ‘Under your skin’, the speaker is reminded of a kiss from their lover. It felt like fire, burning them, and also led them to obsess over their lover’s lips, and body.

In ‘So Helpless’, the speaker imagines their lover being a cochineal, crushed to produce lipstick. It starts to get sadistic, since the speaker doesn’t actually want to create lipstick, but to discover every little bit of their lover’s body, every vein and every drop of blood, a very twisted sense of love.

In ‘Alone’, the speaker understands they cannot truly love, so they resort to alternative ways of expressing desire that could harm others. They believe that their heart is pale, with little to no redness to even be considered a heart, and therefore cannot love properly. So they hope that by crushing their lover, and producing this heated passion for the speaker, it can mimic the feelings of love, almost like painting their heart with lipstick.

In the end, the speaker has given up, realising there is no going back from this twisted obsession. The speaker is melting into lipstick, losing their humanity. The lipstick metaphor represents not just the colour of blood, but obsessiveness, possessive passion and lastly, self-destruction. The speaker's desire ultimately destroys any chance for real intimacy and connection.