getting my first facial

my friend

Jelly Bean, gives me a free

gift coupon

for a facial.

which makes me look

deeply

into the mirror to see

what's wrong.

do i really look like a gargoyle

now?

oh, no, no, she says.

it's nothing like that, 

you look great, you

look young

for your age,

but this will make

you look even better.

oh, i say. okay.

so they lay me down

and start scrubbing my

face with

a lava rock,

heated from a charcoal

grill.

i know now how the islanders

on Pompeii felt

when Vesuvius exploded.

next comes

more heat,

a steamy wet towel 

that they pick up with tongs

to strap across

my face from

ear to ear.

then some sort of wax,

then a painful peel.

my hands

grip the side of the gurney,

as tears

roll down my face.

there's four women talking

in Taiwanese

standing at the table,

i catch the words 'baby man' 

as their little hands get busy

on my face.

then a cold cream is applied.

green like 

the split pea soup my mother

used to make.

an hour later

they scrape that off, hardened

like a cake,

then they wash what's left of

my skin away.

hosing me down

with an antiseptic spray.

wobbly, i stand up and take

a look in the mirror.

i look exactly the same

except with no eyebrows

and maybe a little older

from the stress.