Odd O'blography

Smile!

Birthday Bash Relay, day 9
poem, 18 lines, 'best or worst things about birthdays'

Smile!

Predictable birthday reprise,
time-worn memories of parties past,
dreams packed in mothballs.

Smile, brittle facade of hope!
Lest cracks of age betray despair;
a bucket brigade of rue
cannot fill the looming abyss.

An artifice of patchwork paint
simulates cheeky attitude;
red, red lips express
hollow birthday bonhomie.

Floating faces rush by,
well-meant wishes echoing
in a dimming point of view.
Vertigo swirls in the shadow.

Guilty plea of exhaustion,
escape through the cracks,
predictable birthday reprise.

author's note ▼