Vanity

I hate mirrors for the often reveal the truths we seek to hide from the world.

Vanity 

By

Carlos Lorenzo Estrada 

(Redundant Illusion) 

Vanity, I see you clear

beyond reflection of a mirror

Painted, manicured, disguise 

In imperfections that we hide

Illusions of our pride

Are follies often recognized 

Reveals in hope to be

Fooled by vanity

Author's Note

In my old age I am no longer vain, or as much as I was in my youth. A trait I suspect was given to me as a vice by my mother. She would often spend hours preparing herself in front of a mirror. I remember at about age five just standing by the bathroom door watching this act play out. Like watching a long candle melt. I don't believe this is exclusive to one gender. Because in my teens and later I formed the same habit. I wrote this piece as an exercise of sorts. Choosing a single word to start a poem and end it. Little did I realize the consequences and profound emotions this short piece would elicit within me. So many memories came flooding into mind as I remembered my mother spending hours in front of her mirror attempting the impossible. Trying to hide what we truly are. CLE

Reviews

[Debra K Middaugh]

Mirrors and reflections. It can show beauty, imperfection, sorrow, anger. I have seen many different emotions in my eyes in the reflections. Carlos, I LOVED it. The author's note was awesome. Thank you for sharing.
Best Wishes,
Turbo1904

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Debra I so appreciate your kind words. Indeed the mirror reflects more than just our image. I personally hate mirrors, not because of what I see in it. But because of what I've tried to hide from it. CLE

[Sami Khalil]

Mirrors reflect our aging and fleeting beauty, but hardly our wisdom. It is vanity indeed to pursue something temporary instead of the eternal. Reality can make us believers if we humble ourselves.
An awesome take on this subject.
You are truly a poet.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Sami for your kind words. Hearing such encouragement from my peers means a lot to me. Because I so admire the artistry and talents of each writer here. It is a constant journey forward in writing. A process second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, until years pass. And in the end we leave behind a trail of words that reveal who we are. That is why I find writing profoundly beautiful.

[Sami Khalil]

I agree wholeheartedly. You are welcome fellow artist. Chug on......

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"
If we think we are, we may really be kidding ourselves and need to step away from that mirror, or turn out the lights.
j.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

I could not have said more wiser a word then these. Thank you my friend. I feel at times it's generational. My mom was a 50's child and grew up at a time where commercially advertisements were skewed towards this idea of beauty. All to sell their vile products. Could still smell that strong odor of aquanet heavy in the air as she sat before the mirrored alter. And I think now in this time where teenage suicide is at an all time high because of bullying. We have failed our children in trying to teach them to be better than us. Imagine the incredible young artistic voices we have lost because they were harassed for not being beautiful? That the beauty they had to share with the world was far more greater than something superficially external. The mirror holds only partial truth, for it can not reveal the importance of where true beauty exists. Thank you J for sharing the pure wisdom of your words. I truly appreciate it.

[Ladysue]

Your words speaks volumes. Beauty is an inside job. Illusions of pride.. what a great line. Love this poem.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me on this poem. Teen suicide is at its highest in years because we have failed as a society to teach our children to be better than us. That beauty isn't exclusively external. That it resides within everyone. There is a truth to the mirror but it doesn't reveal everything. It is heartbreaking to think of the incredible artists of the future we may have lost because they were bullied for not being beautiful. That they beauty they had to share to the world was far greater than appearance. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me I truly appreciate it.

[Lorry]

I have a hate hate relationship with mirrors. Always judging me when I should shave or moisturise or just give up and play join the dots on my creases and see what I can come up with. (I would try it but just know I'd end up with a Picasso left out in the rain look.
Life indeed gets simpler with age. No need to wash your hair and press your clothes every time you step over the threshold.
Okay, the grocery delivery folk might get a shock when I gruffly open the door in my penguin onesie and scratching bits I'm not quite awake to know I shouldn't, but I think the postman overreacted when he shrieked like a little girl and ran away when I answered the door to sign for a parcel still in my highly successful big bad wolf onesie at Halloween. (Did I mention I live in a forest miles away from anything but my sole neighbour and the dribbling remnants of a melting snowman... I should really remove that carrot and bits of coal!)
He now parks half a mile away and sneaks into my porch, rings the bell and runs like the clappers. 😊

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Lol oh I think you are perhaps too hard on yourself my friend. I would to say though that perhaps it is generational as far as beauty is concerned. My mom was a child of the 50s. Where society really pushed beauty to the forefront with products on commercials constantly advertising minute after minute. I could still smell the aquanet hairspray she would constantly use. It would fill the rooms in the house. Now a days it's worse with the rate of young girl suicides being at their highest because of bullying from others for being what they believe is ugly. I hate mirrors. They reveal only the outside and can never see what true beauty really is. Nor what ugliness lurks within something beautiful. CLE

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Carlos, your poem brought me memories of my own mother sitting before her 'Hollywood-lighted" make-up mirror, painstakingly "putting on her face" before she could venture outside for the day's tasks...Max Factor pan-stick foundation, black eyebrow pencil, mascara, red lipstick, etc. It was a sacred ritual that I watched in rapt admiration. This was her armor, and she wore it proudly into her 80s. Brushing her curly, jet-black hair, she would place the gold hoops in her ears. Then, she was "ready". My little mother, not even 5' tall. Oh, how I miss her beauty, her delicacy, her scent. Was she vain, trying to hide her olive, acne-scarred skin and ethnic features? Or was she an artist creating her own, more perfect, reality? The mistress of illusions, she was also the epitome of grace. Thank you so much for bringing back to me this sweetest of memories with your word, my friend. Much appreciated.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful and delicate memory with me. I too have similar memories with my mom. She would literally spend entire morning in front of the mirror putting on makeup and hairspraying her hair to make it all picture perfect. The smell of that pink can of aquanet would fill up both the bedroom and bathroom. It's scent left such an indelible memory inside me. I feel bad because women of the 50s and 60s were bombarded with images of what beauty should be. With constant commercials and fashion magazines of those eras. It has only gotten worse. With teenage girls committing suicide because they are bullied for their looks and harrased by their peers. I never can remember a time seeing my grandmother sitting in front of a mirror for hours. She never had to. She was raising over 20 children she gave birth to. She had no time or care for such vanities. I can remember my uncle spending just as much time as my mom standing in front of a mirror preparing himself to go out to the clubs. Perhaps it is generational. Though society plays a large part in this as well. Vanity I see you clear....

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Thank you for sharing your memories and wise words Carlos. My grandmother also lived with us and raised me. Your grandmother had so many children. She struggled just to survive. Mine had ten children during the Great Depression, & a husband who beat her & abandoned her. Yes, the generations were very different in their lives and vanities. I think social media & vanity are killing too many children today. So sad. Praying. Bless you my friend.

[Mauricio Montoya]

Wow we do need to look in a mirror but sometimes we don't see so insightful this write it makes me think
Thank you for sharing

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Mauricio for your kind thoughts on this poem. My grandmother, my Nana, almost never looked into mirrors. She had over 20 children in her life; she didn't need to. Beauty wasn't anything she even worried about. My mom though was very different. She would spend hours in front of a mirror. I feel it was a generational thing because in the 50s and 60s tv really pushed women into thinking more about physical beauty. It has only gotten worse now a days. So many young people committing suicide because they are bullied into believing they are ugly by others. It is sad that this happens. We need to be better people and respect each other more. Beauty does not last. And even if one is considered beautiful on the outside it doesn't mean they are on the inside. Thank you again my friend.

[Mauricio Montoya]

Wow I feel you

[John the Baptist]

Vanity can mean excessive pride, obsessiveness about one's appearance, or futility. Of course, a certain king said all is vanity, so we may be talking about different faces of the same thing.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Indeed we may my friend. To some it may be a virtue, while to others a vice. In the end the choice is left to the individual. Is there grace in aging? Or simply futility in trying to suppress it? What is beautiful to one maybe ugly to another. I'm currently writing a piece called Spanish moss where I describe a tree. Its skin cragged and Wrinkled yet within its hide is youth. A dichotomy that resonated with me. Mirrors tell the truth of our exterior but they fail to reveal what may truly exist within. Perhaps vanity is an exercise of futility, but I feel it says more about our nature than our aspirations. Thank you again my friend for sharing your thoughts with me.

[Amanda Reynolds]

I love your poem but the lines from your notes, especially these lines "She would often spend hours preparing herself in front of a mirror.. I remember at about age five just standing by the bathroom door watching this act play out. Like watching a long candle melt" really moved me and painted a picture in my mind.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Amanda for your kind words. I really appreciate it. I often try to portray the origins of a piece of writing through my authors notes. I feel it's vital to understand the writing process each of us go through for our art. Because it helps those who are honing their craft to gage what others use for their tools in the creative process. I have always professed that writers see the world differently than most people. We look at objects and find descriptive words to define them rather than the single word they are ascribed. We do the same with moments we live as well. But I feel the most important trait of any creative is their ability to open themselves up to the audience. To lay bare their truth without compromise. Because to do so opens up a line of conversation and honest rapport with your readers. One that creates a respectful and truthful relationship as well as dialogue. It's why most of my writing tends to be emotive. If I could make one person feel the words or empathize with the theme than that work is a success even if it is only one person it touches. Because if you can change one heart in this world you have done something extraordinary. Keep on writing and sharing your voice with the world. CLE

[Betty Hermelee]

As we all know Carlos, beauty is within a person, not necessarily reflected in a mirror. But we also know that some women in particular spend hours in front of a mirror making themselves up to what they believe is beautiful... I had a mother-in-law who did that until the day she died... and she would teach me as a kid how to be beautiful... she even wore wigs.... I love this poem and the beginning and the end....middle too!
Best, B

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you B for your kind words and sharing that personal note. The image of beauty is unattainable because it fades and changes constantly. And what one thinks is beautiful is not the same for others. We loose ourselves in perfection blinding our sight to the purity of imperfection. Their uniqueness is beautiful. My mother always strives for impossibility of beauty but it is from my grandmother that I have come to accept the lesser in its particular individualistic quality. It is why i love art and writing. To create something unique and all its own, flaws and all. And in some ways see myself within it. CLE

[Betty Hermelee]

You're very welcome C.!
Best, B