Tilt your chin a little that way
so we can get the full shine
from the tears in your eyes.
Maybe you’re born with it?
Who cares. Hold the pose.
But we should check that background.
Life complicates the composition
and there is no time for color correction.
We only want the pain
that looks the prettiest on camera.
If you’re not picture perfect
get out of the way of the lens.
Song Choice: Hell You Talmabout by Janelle Monae featuring Wondaland Records
This poem was created for Poetry for the Cruelest Month: Protest and Outrage and for Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
This poem was created for Poetry for the Cruelest Month: Protest and Outrage and for Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
When I got to the end of your poem, I thought, "It goes perfectly with the expression on the face of Shelle's piece. Perhaps because I was making the same face--disgust mixed with a healthy dose of fury, all aimed at the ones who preach of "picture perfect". What the hell does that mean anyway? I can't wait for the day when we crush lenses and kiss mirrors.
ReplyDeleteIn this society we have very fixed ideas of what a "perfect" victim looks like, and any deviation from that idea means we don't have to acknowledge the pain as real, or even acknowledge that the ones experiencing the pain are worthy of basic human respect.
DeleteI love this one! I was thinking of pain in colors (mri,cat scans). Glad I read your post first. It's unfortunately perfect. Big Hugz, Rasz
ReplyDeleteSadly, yes.
DeleteOh this is absolutely spot on potent!❤️ The entire concept of 'picture perfect' is flawed because being human we are meant to have imperfections. So yeah.. what the hell? Beautifully penned.❤️
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Sanaa
Right, and society has a way of invalidating the harm done to people because they don't fit into that idea of perfect victim.
DeleteNo ugly crying either! Only attractive sobbing allowed.
ReplyDeletePretty much
DeleteThat face. In that picture. Is speaking without words. And it's not pretty.
ReplyDeleteShelle's art is amazing
Deleteso spot on....so powerful and wise. Pissed me off, thanks, xoxo Oma Linda
ReplyDeleteWe should all be angry that society demands that a victim must fit into a particular profile in order for it to acknowledge their pain is real.
DeleteOh, THIS:
ReplyDelete"We only want the pain
that looks the prettiest on camera."
Goodness. So much power and truth in those words. Perfect.
And who defines what is pretty? That is also a big issue that needs to be addressed.
DeleteIt's all about image...but you busted the perfectionists' mirror...thank you!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't exactly discussing perfectionism, as in a personal need to consistently perform at a top level in order to feel validated, but that could be another facet to this piece.
DeleteYou are so right! We are so programmed about what II is to look perfect that we have learned to hide the real us. Trained to present that perfect picture to the people around us! Spot on!
ReplyDeleteI think society plans a hand in forcing this artificial concept of perfection in that it values some hurts over others. It is so difficult not to internalize that when its all around us.
DeleteWow.."We only want the pain that looks the prettiest on camera." I never thought of it that way, but it is so true.
ReplyDeleteThere is a certain disturbing voyeuristic quality to that as well, that is so disturbing.
DeletePhotogenic pain - yes, we only want the most attractive. This is a really brilliant poem.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sherry
DeleteSo true, but seeing/knowing this sets one free
ReplyDeleteAnd freedom is a valuable thing
DeleteAs I have always taught my son, beauty is an opinion, not a fact. It's devastating to observe the selfie generation getting swallowed alive by their constant craving for impossible perfection and external validation.
ReplyDeleteI love your poem! Particularly the line:
"We only want the pain
that looks the prettiest on camera."
Truth!!
Glad you enjoyed it
DeleteNicely satirical! I read it as a criticism of journalists in particular .
ReplyDeleteYes! This was exactly what I was trying to get across.
DeleteI can't help but wonder if that apocryphal warning about photographs stealing your soul, may be more true than we want to believe ~
ReplyDeleteHa! Maybe
DeleteBeautifully empathetic words Rommy. If only more of us could see those tears are real. XXX
ReplyDeleteAnd that people don't have to meet some standard for their tears to be recognized as real.
DeleteYes, prettiest pain only. How pathetic! Well-expressed, Rommy.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very unfortunate thing.
DeletePicture Perfect... thinking this is WORD & THOUGHT perfect!! No photoshop required, you captured the essence of the distasteful requirement everyone demands... only the prettiest, whatever the emotion, others need not apply.
ReplyDeleteThanks Shelle!
DeleteThis makes me think of that recent trend "Pretty when you cry", a crazy concept in this new world of selfies.
ReplyDeleteSome of the trends today are quite strange
DeletePhotogenic sad people in films kinda annoy me! I cry ugly!
ReplyDeleteMe too
DeleteSo sad and so true!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, and that is unfortunate
DeleteOh hell yes!
ReplyDeleteI read an article on a woman's health e-mag (hideous concept, btw) touting how admirable it was to follow the Victoria's angel diets and workout plans. I think they are called 'angels' because they wont be long with us following the regime.
I decided that I'm celebrating myself -- and if I want to eat a salad or a bowl of mac-n-cheese, I'll eat what I fell like. And the same for exercise -- I'll walk a mile or run two, depending on what my body wants to do. Not some stupid fashion magazine.