Vanity's Shallow Divide

 

In their bleeding

Masquerade,

Gilded and gleaming,

Opulent and extravagant.

I watch them

Blowing themselves up into the vision they hold

Of themselves,

The burnished throne upon which they hoist themselves

Gleaming dully,

Sitting stonily,

Accustomed to its bearer’s hefty weight.

 

Their velvet cloaks and satin dresses,

Their emeralds and rubies,

Waving and winking uselessly

Like an unnamed flag,

A greed-pinched eye.

Their infatuation,

Hopelessly hoarding their helpless minds,

Turn their eyes to glass-cut stones –

Obsidians and Cat’s Eyes –

Turn their hunger and pride

Malnourished.

 

I watched them,

Their roses shrinking,

Thorns thickening,

No more hardened

Than their laughter are,

When they point their jewel-crusted fingers at those

Who tread in dull-shaded rags,

But whose flushed faces

Glow yet brighter.

 

Reviews

[Wulfstan Crumble]

Luxury in image and vocabulary. This is the key phrase for the poem:

"Blowing themselves up into the vision they hold

Of themselves,"

It sums up most plainly the feelings of vanity, narcissim and self-importance. The last stanza for me speaks of the withering, corruption and jaded fakeness of it all. Very nice poem.