Anti-aging Face Cream
By Dragana Lazici
Yesterday my childhood shrank to the size of a diamond
and exploded
into a vagabonding line around my neck
and some new lines now frame my blue eyes
it’s like I’ve woken up this morning on my last day of holiday
with a bad stomach and pictures I don't remember taking
suddenly the cold Atlantic water folded my youth into its mouth
but wait this new anti-aging cream will erase my fleeting concerns
& smooth over
any feckless crater that exposes my foibles
anything that says
I survived seven solar eclipses & twenty transatlantic flights
or that I bury my anxieties at night under a pink silk pillow
this cream will replumb my bones
elasticate my memory
moisturise my blood until there’s nothing left dry
this state-of-the-art sculpting cream & I stand in silence
in front of the bathroom mirror
wondering which of the demarcated lives I led is worthy
of erasure
Dragana Lazici
Dragana Lazici was born in Romania to Serbian parents. She grew up in Montreal, Canada after her family escaped Communism. She moved to London to do an MA in Applied Translation Studies many years ago and has been living in Cambridge for fifteen years. Dragana was published in PopShot Magazine, Ink, Sweat & Tears and in the Duo Anthology 2024 by Linen Press. She was longlisted for the Plaza Prize 2024 and the Fish Poetry Prize 2025, and was the third winner of the Plough Prize 2024.
Photo credit: Nastia Petruk
Apricot Press 