Alice Neel- Self Portrait

www.aliceneel.com

A Frequent Flyer at the Botox Bar

Wandering around and sampling;

A little restylane here,

A chemical peel there.

It’s a non-self-service costly bar,

Where the selections expand to meet your greed.

“Do I want to continue this merry-go-round?”

OR “Do I dare to get off?”

“What will I look like without the extra helpings?”

“Will my chin slide down my neck?”

“Will my eye lids obstruct my vision?”

“Where have I learned to be so vain?”

At the Drug stores as a child hanging around

The Magazine rack:

Glamour, Vogue, Teen Miss,

All telling me the Secrets to Beauty and success;

None foretold the cost and the discomfort.

The annoyance of our own skin.

From head to toe we run from the mirror of age,

Rather than embracing out skin:

And beholding ourselves as Goddess.

We return to the Botox Bar,

And attempt to refill our plate

Always walking away hungry and emptier.

November  13, 2010

Waking up after a chemical peel