If beauty were such a thing
it would reign supreme
it would be bottled
in expensive lotions and
sold as the only thing
worth considering

That’s how I feel
Oh! What was I thinking?

Society already does that!
We’re bombarded by images
Made to worship at beauty’s altar
Enticed to spend on enhancements
-convinced that happiness
is found in what you can see

with increasing pressure to
be as beautiful as we can be

The youth fall for this easily
Their worth measured in
flawless skin, slim physiques
and Bekkie good hair
Don’t get me started on social media!
If the world doesn’t collectively

click ‘like’ on their instagram posts
they’re unable to function effectively

Not so-I hope-for we of older years
we’ve been there and done that
and escaped the deception of youth
It should be obvious with
all the ugliness in the world
that those things that last -love & hope

are what matter as inner beauty glows
-while we navigate life’s slippery slope

©Vivian Zems

Real Toads- A L’Arora

The A L’ Arora, a form created by Laura Lamarca consists of eight lined stanzas. The rhyme scheme is a, b, c, d, e, f, g, f with no syllable count per line and the minimum length for the poem is 4 stanzas with no maximum length stipulation.