waxen

His waxen face was frozen in a perpetual scowl.

“That’s a lie,” was his standard rejoinder, strangely accompanied by a waxen smile that flickered on and off as though set on a faulty timer.

Urs Fischer offers a literally waxen redeployment of antique statuary: a candle in the shape of the Three Graces, the central goddess facing backward, their absent heads turned into burning wicks.

Steps away lay Benedict, rested between Swiss Guards, his head propped on crimson pillows, his face waxen, almost unrecognizable.

The skin felt cool and slightly waxen, numb to the touch as though it wasn’t really mine at all.