Botox lullaby
Submitted by Susan Weber on December 26, 2009 - 22:20
Tis the day after Christmas
and all through this place
not a feature is stirring.
I’ve botoxed my face.
I’ve Stepford perfected
my vacuous stare.
I’m grimacing blandly
my inner despair.
My wrinkles are smuggled
all suave in my head.
They carved out a living
but now they’re quite dead.
Come anger, come jealousy,
plunder, conniption.
Come playfulness, happiness,
wonder, conviction.
Come shed your suggestion
that Botox is rape.
Oh ravaged emotions
dream not of escape!
Your passion is pointless,
your impotence funny.
My flesh has suppressed you
by medicine’s cunning.
I silence your sirens
with Stonehenge’s call.
Pass away. Pass away.
Pass away. All.
Photo montage Susan Weber
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you have a future in film!
Susan
This is truly creepy especially the glint in your eye. I LOVE IT!!
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SHAHINAh yes... my second calling
Ah yes... my second calling is glinting at the lens for sure!
Somehow, this doesn't sound
Somehow, this doesn't sound like an expression of what is going on with Susan Weber to me!
But the clever poem that reminds us that a very strong focus on our outward appearance may mask our concerns with what is going on deep in our hearts!
It also reminds me of a common exchange I have with people regarding birthdays - I had my thirtieth this year. When I imparted this news to those who asked about it, there were invariably shrieks of dismay, and offers of consolation. I was always surprised at these things, and would tell them so - to me, my life gets better and richer every year, and I am always so very glad to BE here for another year, and to enjoy the people I love, that I am delighted to celebrate each birthday - and even to see those lines on my skin that mark their passing. I love getting older - and happier!
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'Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe.'
Neil Gaiman, Sandman
A few years back I was
A few years back I was watching a Japanese storyteller engage a packed grade school audience with wonderful stories, after which he asked if there were any questions. ‘How old are you?’ a little girl asked. Adults in the room chuckled nervously, waiting for the teller to dodge the question. Instead, he said, ‘I’m so glad you asked me that! In my culture, the older we grow, the more we are revered for our wisdom and experience. I will be 52 this year and look forward to growing older and older!’
What a breath of fresh air - his and your response to aging. The poem grew out of doodling with words on a day of relaxation after all the holiday exertions, letting the mind imagine a conversation between the botoxer and her forsaken emotions.
Unencumbered faces can get so interesting with time!
Aging and Image
They surely can! The poem really caught my imagination - I spend a lot of time thinking about women, and body image and cultural pressures, and those items, so this kind of thing always sets me off at a run. :)
But I imagined having a conversation with my own, not-conventionally-lovely bits - the wrinkle, the grey hair, the love handle, the scars. And I found that what I wanted to say to them all was: "I love you guys! I earned you! Some of you were very hard won, after pain and suffering, weariness and struggle. Some of you were prizes, like you, laugh lines, gained after years and years of smiles and laughter and love. But I am proud of each and every one of you!"
That was a fun conversation to have.
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'Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe.'
Neil Gaiman, Sandman
Botox Girl/Just The Way You Are -- with apologies to Billy Joel
I'm gonna try for a Botox girl
She's been livin in her Wintour world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And would she want to know a natural man
That's what I am
(segue to ...)
Don't go freezing trying to please me
Don't change the color of your hair
You could not be any better
I love you just the way you are.
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Water Color Visions