Wrinkles

Worries kiss the forehead

Sorrows caress the eyes

Even smiles leave their marks

New emotions carve new angles

Relevant age deepens them

Mementos from a life lived.

A friend said, wear them with pride

A badge of all things survived

I try to hide them

Horrified by the signs of neglect personified

Cream, exercise, and prayer

All goes into the quagmire

A laughing stock I become

In my desire to be young.

Efforts to appear what I am not persist

Excuse being what I aspire to exist

A battle to reverse the clock goes on

A trudge to pave the path to a new dock lives on

Shiny and new is the mantra

Always a desire to ride with the in-style junta.

The fine lines are stubborn

Gilt-edged bond of suppression

They are valued in some places

Scorned in most private spaces

Youth is priceless

Wrinkles are worthless.