Vanity Fare

The ugly eye sees riches here

which escalate the cost

If it costs so much then who's to say

If it's beautiful or not?

 

Mirror, mirror, on the wall -

who is the fairest of them all?

 

Ugliness is cheap

but it can make a lot of money -

if you buy it up as dirt and filth

and sell it off as honey.

 

Mirror, say my eyes are blue -

Mirror: "What's it worth to you?"

 

Then beauty will be ugliness

and vice versa so

Who will be left to tell the difference?

Who will be left to know?

Reviews

[Augustus]

Boy do you write well or what! This is such a short verse and written in such simple language! Almost like a snatch from a fairy tale or a nursery rhyme in places....but behind that veil there is profound satire...

"if it costs so much then who's to say
if its beautiful or not?"
Very intelligently put...and this is seen so often in society... It is not the object itself but its worth that causes a stir...

"if you buy it up as dirt and filth
and sell it off as honey"
Again, concisely put, and the witty metaphor puts the icing on the cake...This also, is seen everywhere....its the marketing department after all, and not quality assurance that makes the profit fora company...I read a novel called "Hogfather" by Terry Pratchett recently, and he has a similar situation in which the restaurant's cooks feed their customers old boots masked with a lot of sugar and cream...again, deep satire if one sees past the humour...
The poem ends on a very thought provoking note too... if we are to accept such deception,how will we ever be able to tell the difference between what's good and what's not? And will only money talk or will the essence hold any importance?
A highly intelligent piece of satirical verse!
Just a minor point though...I am unsure whether the word "Fare" was used instead of "Fair" intentionally or unintentionally..."Vanity Fair" would be the conventional usage...but I suspect you might have used "Fare" in the sense of cost or price to pay for a ride through vain circles...In either case, it takes nothing away from a brilliantly rendered verse!

[Desert Dreamer]

Such a well written poem full of meaning. I love the ending,
"Then beauty will be ugliness
and vice versa so
Who will be left to tell the difference?
Who will be left to know?"
Haunting...if we keep hiding ourselves with makeup and surgeries, who will know what is real and what is truly beautiful. We get used to seeing people, mostly women, who look fake (to me) and truly ugly, with unnaturally shaped breasts and too perfect colored skin... and our daughters think they are ugly because they don't look like the pictures of women they see. This is difficult for many woman to overcome, to accept themselves for who they are. I think there is beauty in all of us, especially in our imperfections and flaws. And someone gets rich making us all think we are ugly so we buy their products. What an amazing poem to make us think.

[alesuriko]

The content of this piece is honest and expressive. I like the addition of the mirror and the use of the Disney's Snow White phrase. I like the selling it off as honey, very contrasting and good imagery. I love that it's Vanity FaRE instead of Vanity FaIR. It really adds to the content of the piece, with the ugliness and how one is faring through their journey of life in a society that values a particular type of fictional beauty far too much. What I find even weirder... this very day I bought the "Vanity Fair" screenplay. Eerie haha. Well done with this poem!

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

Vanity Fare perfect title!
All are vain in one way or another and the fare is not cheap.
Thanks to the media and people like Paris ect. nothing less than perfection is expected and in many cases, accepted.
This is our world.. ain't it grand?

Chloe

[Buddhistboy73]

ha ha...this sounds to me like it could have been penned about the BP oil spill! Good words, good write...

[Liza]

so true how we're sold beauty to mask the ugliness going on
we are visual creatures
who can you really blame...

[JulieZee]

"and sell it off as honey." Really liked the third stanza.

[Crowley]

BAMMM!!! This is really good, makes a super valid point without having to read the Sound and the Fury to get to it. Awesome mirror lines, made me smile, cynacism is fitting of the subject. Nice job man.

[FlawedByDesign]

Good write.
Vanity is the disease infecting many, but incurable. You're born with it, live with it just to die with it by your side.
The third stanza steals the show, while the other ones leave something to be desired, especially the last one.

[sayandeep kundu]

awesome piece of poetry fraught with watchful solipsism as well as a reflection of the society..stupendous.