Can't see that wrinkle you're obsessing over.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack
There is no corner to get stuck.
You may pause to get a snack,
But again you hear the Tick,
Soon followed by the Tack —
Like Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack.
Money clinks to this rhythm,
Bodies wet and dry.
Faces smile and wrinkle,
Tears drop and dry
By Ticks and Tacks.
Pain comes and goes.
Trees dry and rain falls.
Wings cease to flap while
Realities turn to distant memories.
Like Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack
Children become parents,
Parents become kids,
And hearts stop their beat.
Days and nights run back to back.
The rhythm turns them to weeks, months, and years,
Steadily turning our ages to gold —
Like Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack, Tick-Tack.
Time can’t erase
All the lines on your face,
Although Botox, I’m told,
Helps you not look so old.
A face lift, as well,
Means that others can’t tell
Your true age, with success,
If they’re making a guess.
Every wrinkle reflects
How our body elects
To display each ordeal
That we cannot conceal.
So there’s no need to hide
What should bring us some pride,
For we’ve come to that age,
Turning many a page.
Still, I wouldn’t quite mind
If I woke up to find
That my sheets, wrinkle-free,
Passed that magic to me.
My face, a wrinkle deep,
My past, a messy choice,
My present, conflicting options,
Yet, I'm full of desire for a beauty queen.
Got old,
It's not so bad,
Wrinkle age, bucket lists,
Option far worse, naught to discuss,
No fuss.
Wrinkle, wrinkle, dress white shirt,
stains are gone; it’s rid of dirt.
But the crumpled, rumpled look
needs some shaking, so I shook.
How to iron, I did not learn.
If I tried, your shirt might burn;
wear a jacket, do not fret.
Wrinkles vanish when you sweat.
When you take it off, with care
hang it up, the hanger’s there.
That should keep it wrinkle-free;
if it stinks, spray with DEGREE.
May 6, 2023
Miranda Hawley / Mother Goose Grows Up (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)
I have a few whys that really bother me
like why when it rains do I pee frequently?
Why do some people enjoy wearing wigs?
Why do some men act like pigs?
Why don't cars have more of a buffer?
Why do people have to suffer?
Why do certain fabrics crinkle?
Why does old skin have to wrinkle?
Why doesn't a red head's hair turn gray?
Why won't Drs. listen to what their patients have to say?
Why won't any one write a letter?
Why isn't our world getting any better?
Written on 9/26/2022
Updated on 9/27/2022
by Gail DeBole
The young boy was watching his mom
Straighten sheets on his bed with her palms.
He began scratching his head
Looked at the floor and his bed
And seemed to be mildly alarmed.
The young boy who was not quite four,
Said, “The wrinkles are not on the floor.
It did not take long
For them to be gone,
But why did they not fall to the floor?"
Wrinkle
Wending through time's wrinkle
With a wink and a smile
Warped and slightly askew
Wandering rabbit holes
Winds blow just off-kilter
Wardrobe, witch and lion
Whimsical fantasies
Dedicated to C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle and Lewis Carroll
5-10-21
Contest Pleiades W
Sponsor: Kim Merryman
Its dark,,thoughts deep dipped
Taking a stroll but I wanna ride
To go so far that my feets tire
To do it so fast that my thighs burn up
All the more my butt builds
Excruciating lashing wind I crave
Creating a path on the blinding fog
Past the wind by the bulky cypresses
Till my eyes tear away
Till my vision is all a blur
Till m'breathe is stable-struggling
Till I hit on that rock
And am thrown off my ride
And am lying there
Dents on my cheeks and elbows
Blood stained trapped trouser on those greasy wheels
And I breathe
It can't contain me anymore
So the bubble of sadness render me motherless
And I embrace the breeze
And with it it carries silence
And in the silence I find my peace
And in the peace there is laughter
And in the laughter I lose a wrinkle
And my eyes glow a new
rest at last ~ beyond the age of beauty
***
There is a wrinkle in Wyoming
A sparkling fold in Old Japan
There’s a crease in Alabama
North Carolina has lost a man.
Iowa’s cornfield are all on fire
And Georgia has slipped away in the sea
Bolivia is under siege, feeling dire.
Puerto Rico’s colors have turned gray as can be.
There is a continental divide in Mexico.
A hurricane has flooded most of France.
Turn off the news, my sweetheart.
Let’s hide from the world and dance.
Twinkle Than Crinkle and Wrinkle
There is this star that tried to twinkle,
But in big deal we would find a wrinkle;
Clear cellophane,
With no stain;
Made crunchy sound when it did crinkle.
Jim Horn
The little star
That shines alongside the Big Dipper
The one that gets unnoticed
And never seems to want to wink
Is like the big star
That shines alongside the Little Dipper
It gets overlooked
When the Little Dipper starts to blink
At night I slather on my face
An anti-wrinkle cream
So it can make me youthful
While I toss and turn and dream.
Of course it doesn't work and yet,
This ritual remains,
With just the manufacturer
To really make some gains.
Surprisingly, I saw an ad
(Full-page, The New York Times)
That made me laugh, for irony
Inspires many rhymes.
It claimed most women do believe
They're judged based on their age;
Unfairly, too, the font declared
Upon the paper's page.
The ad was paid for by Olay,
My anti-wrinkle maker,
Reminding us that age should not
Define a gal or break her.
A bit ironic, don't you think?
To follow their advice,
I should not use their anti-aging
Wrinkle merchandise!
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