Golden Face

 

Young lady walking twisted halls

of flashy, showy shopping malls

once stumbled upon a different store

with plain façade and tiny door.

Intrigued by lack of flare, she entered

and discovered a circular room, centered

around a small reception table;

seeing no reason to not be able

through the room of white she walked

intending with receptionist to talk.

 

“Hello and welcome to Golden Face;

we can give you one for every place

you end up as through life you travel.”

Misunderstanding, girl was baffled.

“Is your business selling masks?”

quietly intrigued girl asked.

Smiling, receptionist replied,

“No, we help expose one’s best side.

Through surgery that’s reconstructive

we can make you appear more productive,

more beautiful, happy, sexy, cute.”

Dumbfounded, surprised girl sat mute.

Receptionist says, “Let me ask you this;

have you ever felt something was amiss?

Something important absent, lacking?

Felt alone, like no one’s backing

any of your decisions or choices?

Like you’ve never felt such sweet rejoices

as are felt by those with love,

or feel abandoned by One above?

Like your mind can never rest,

or that you’ll never be a true success?”

 

Girl felt like she’d exposed her soul,

and heart she’d thought was hard as coal

started beating, and a tear

in corner of hazel eye appeared.

“Maybe a little,” she quickly stammered

as her poor fractured heart furiously hammered.

Receptionist a button pressed;

she’d perceived girl was distressed

enough at least now to peruse

the catalog from which she’d choose

a brand new face to show the world;

shiny and new she’d be unfurled.

Up from the floor arose a chair,

receptionist directing her, “Sit there

and wait a while for my boss.

She’ll provide you with that gloss

to life for which you have been searching.”

And left on tiny armchair perching

she sat bemusedly wondering

how many others’d come blundering

in through these doors and run away?

At least this’d be an interesting day.

 

Our protagonist sat contemplating

over why exactly she was waiting

for the one conducting this grand

macabre and eery surgical band.

Sure, sometimes she felt out of place

but did this warrant a new face?

Her face was nowhere close to perfect,

but she didn’t think that she deserved it.

“This is frivolous; pointless too!

If I do this, someday I’ll rue

the rash decision I have made!”

But her doubts began to fade

as soon as the proprietor walked in.

 

From girl’s head the frightful din

of fickleness and doubtful thought

that normally for hours fought

was blown away by a sweet breeze

and lilting, harmonious melodies

brought on by this woman divine;

her height was about five foot nine.

Every inch of skin was lustrous,

bejeweled she was just like a Duchess

but what really caught you was the air

of confidence that she ensnared

you with; no matter who you were,

you couldn’t resist the subtle purr

of seductive energy that through her ran.

Yet she spoke with such deadpan!

Physically, she was more

than any man dared to hope for

yet, when those luscious lips she parted

any dreams you might have started

were dashed away by coarsest tongue,

the banal idiolect of the young.

 

Young lady waiting patiently

now sat fidgeting anxiously,

itching for the sweet escape

that in twenty steps she could make,

yet the lovely golden shell

of a woman who might have turned out well

had she not lost herself long ago

kept blathering to girl, like so;

“I promise you beauty not of this earth,

I promise you status, a noble birth,

a reformation of the the past you.

I’ll make you something completely new.

Sure, it’s true, you might discover

there are new problems you’ll have to suffer.

Dirty men who grab your a*s

make you fear all men you pass.

Those who talk just to your breasts

won’t listen to your harsh protests.

And you’ll feel yourself just slip away;

larger pieces every day

until what’s left is…” and she stopped.

She realized her thoughts’d been swapped.

 

Once she’d cared so much for beauty,

put so much into her vanity,

she’d lost herself long, long ago.

Her mouth formed an astonished O

as girl stood up, and politely said

“I think that I quite like my head.

My face isn’t the only part;

bits of my head make me smart.

Other pieces provide my senses.

So really, you provide defenses,

letting people fail at living

as long as they feel that you’re giving

them something that will show the rest

at least in this they can be best.

So, now I’ll leave, and think a while

on how to rearrange my smile

to reflect my inner joy.”
And with that, she left the coy

seductive air of that little store,

unremarkable yet promising more

than anyone should ever need.

She rejected this kind of greed.

 

Satisfied with her normal life,

she left behind the ugly strife

she saw coming from behind that door

and swiftly abandoned the horrid store.

Reviews

[Christina]

This is really great.
The poem is a big inspiration to me,
To be able to write so well, to flow the words while keeping in rhyme scheme is a difficult task. I'm in awe of your abilities. :)

[Kena Dawn Augustine]

Wow Molly, that was really good!!

the way you write is unique and refreshing. I liked the idea that a gorgeous women comes out of the store and tells the other women it's not always cracked up to be. although people tell me positives about my image, i many times, have low self esteem, and i alwyas find all these things wrong, and I look at other girls and go, "man, i want to look like that." but sometimes it leads to more pain than anything, to be hit on all the time.

my favorite part is:



So, now I'll leave, and think a while

on how to rearrange my smile

to reflect my inner joy."

so many people in our society think rearranging your smile means going to a plastic surgeon, getting collagen, putting on exspensive lipstick. no, it means, smiling, rejocing yourself, not because you look as good as the magazines, but bec. you are beauitufl inside, and it reflects to the outside.

Man, thanks, I feel inspired now.

[Phibby Venable]

wow! this is great! so strong & what a refreshing read for this world.