vanity

Vanity creeps ominously
as mirror mocks what used to be.
Ridiculously ill-fitting
clothes torment a once-taut body.

Impetuously sapping youth,
Vanity creeps ominously.
Through tears of anguish and of pride,
I cast my lot with surgery.

The years caught up: hard work and care;
the children, grown -- no longer there.
Vanity creeps ominously,
foreboding as a rocking chair.

A blade, a noose, perhaps some pills?
Guilt, sadness and depression fill
empty days -- lost, forgotten -- my
Vanity creeps ominously.

©2006 b.cisek

van·i·ty ('va-n&-tE), noun: empty, vain; 1 : something that is vain, empty, or valueless; 2 : the quality or fact of being vain; 3 : inflated pride in oneself or one's appearance : conceit

definition courtesy of merriam-webster online