Vanity

Verisimilitudes of the vacuous

Image by IMustBeDead via express permission.

Vainglorious air, mine to exhale
My predestined downfall doused with
Every. Little. Legerdemain. LIE.
My weight of hand commands, subjugates
Servants and slaves to the perfect notion
Of beauty
Of balance
HA, of me and my manifold mystique
Cultures of “Celebrity” and “Influencer”
Saturnine blends of mythomania and
Asininity
Absurdity is the new black and I wear
Every shade under a vertex spotlight of
S
A
D
N
E
S
S
Lighting up every room lickety-split
A romancer by day, a reprobate by
Night
Nocturnal nightmares of perfectionism
Prefaced with a knavish kiss xoxo
From mewed make-believe true believers
Obsidian realities blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Bedlam lines
Performance dissonance, who am I?
The starlet on the smartphone screen
Or some quelled queen of quixotism?
Treacly trends make or break my
Sweetness, sated terse thirst, thirsting for
R
E
L
E
V
A
N
C
E
In an irreverent, insouciant, inchoate
Wonder-willed world
Wondering what chicanery I need next?
“NEXT”
Hushing the societal mouth with my
Famous index finger, mordant majesty
Will always be mine for the feted foretaken
Uttered in four spoken forespoken words
MAKE | ME | GO | VIRAL
A go-go-go desire for denigration tokenism
So I levitate and elevate
Posing atop charcoal data clouds
Praying I don’t wilt, snared in worldwide
W
E
B
B
I
N
G

© Edward Swafford 2024/2025 

Image by IMustBeDead via express permission.

Thank you for reading/listening!

Seven Sins is our forthcoming collection of poetry, SOC, experimental writing, and creative fiction/nonfiction.

Lust. Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Wrath. Envy. VANITY.

Choose one and submit.