Vanity Poems
Vanity Of Vanities
by Christina Georgina Rossetti
Ah, woe is me for pleasure that is vain,
Ah, woe is me for glory that is past:
Pleasure that bringeth sorrow at the last,
Glory that at the last bringeth no gain!
So saith the sinking heart; and so again
It shall say till the mighty angel-blast
Is blown, making the sun and moon aghast,
And showering down the stars like sudden rain.
And evermore men shall go fearfully,
Bending beneath their weight of heaviness;
......
Beauty's Vanity and Worthlessness
by Joseph Ogbonna
Though I style my curly braids with ribbons bright,
and colour my sweet moist lips with royal red
to look as bright and fair as a newly wed.
Though I stand on two towers to get a better height,
with eyelashes that beckon at each gazer.
Though my trendy gowns make me a trailblazer
with great designer labels that distinguish.
Though I have curves which men wished they could relish,
revealed slightly through my scantily clad frame.
Though I have this charm which could hardened hearts tame,
......
The Vanity of Existence
by Philip Freneau
In youth, gay scenes attract our eyes,
And not suspecting their decay
Life's flowery fields before us rise,
Regardless of its winter day.
But vain pursuits, and joys as vain,
Convince us life is but a dream.
Death is to wake, to rise again
To that true life you best esteem.
......
The Vanity of the Dragonfly
by Nancy Willard
The dragonfly at rest on the doorbell—
too weak to ring and glad of it,
but well mannered and cautious,
thinking it best to observe us quietly
before flying in, and who knows if he will find
the way out? Cautious of traps, this one.
A winged cross, plain, the body straight
as a thermometer, the old glass kind
that could kill us with mercury if our teeth
did not respect its brittle body. Slim as an eel
......
Crucifixion
by Jeff Bresee
They say that the truth is a hard thing to take,
but maybe it’s time that we see
that we as a people are nothing but fake,
ensuring that’s how it will be.
We stand up demanding there’s tolerance,
doing so with our fists in the air.
It’s truly the oddest dance ever been danced,
hypocrisy beyond compare.
......
Cigarette Smoke
by Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu
On a warm, dew-weakened day,
Watching the grey void of a lost
Sense, anxious moments recline
On whiffs of ancestral propitiations
When rafters regain possession of
Filched roast fish, balanced with
The fumes of a wild dance heckled
By chokes of a chagrined weekend.
Who rises faster than smokes of a
Low tar, ascending
......
Beauty
by Jeff Bresee
I see it time and time again
that beauty’s made by what is spent.
A beauty that demands a price
with outer glow and inner ice.
And observation seems to tell
it’s only as deep as the well,
for come the day the well runs dry…
......
Crucifixion
by Jeff Bresee
They say that the truth is a hard thing to take,
but maybe it’s time that we see
that we as a people are nothing but fake,
ensuring that’s how it will be.
We stand up demanding there’s tolerance,
doing so with our fists in the air.
It’s truly the oddest dance ever been danced,
hypocrisy beyond compare.
......
Into Piles
by Jeff Bresee
What in the world are we doing?
Who are we trying to beat?
It seems like we live our lives running,
as if we are losing our seats.
We never stop building up towers.
We never stop spinning around.
We never stop piling up into piles
everything that we’ve torn down.
......
Beauty's Vanity and Worthlessness
by Joseph Ogbonna
Though I style my curly braids with ribbons bright,
and colour my sweet moist lips with royal red
to look as bright and fair as a newly wed.
Though I stand on two towers to get a better height,
with eyelashes that beckon at each gazer.
Though my trendy gowns make me a trailblazer
with great designer labels that distinguish.
Though I have curves which men wished they could relish,
revealed slightly through my scantily clad frame.
Though I have this charm which could hardened hearts tame,
......
