I’m in constant acknowledgment
of a television, radio,
bus stop poster, magazine—
telling me incessantly
some nine out of ten dentists agree
that my teeth should be whiter
than the porcelain tiles
on my bathroom wall,
or an overlit padded cell
holding nothing at all.

Whiter than the Moon, the Sun—
or white paint with the name
Silk-spun Water Lily, Marble Dove,
Albino Cue Ball, Ivory Snowfall.
As unnatural and silly as all of the above.

Yet there are those who will strive
for more than perfection,
and never be blithe
with their more-than-perfect reflection.
Grinning with the realness
of fluorescence and neon,
at the stand-alone dentist
with a genuine smile the rest
could not agree on.

But in time, with age,
everything becomes faded.
Soon enough then I’m sure
when all is said and done,
our bodies rotten, degraded away,
they’ll offer to whiten our drab skeleton.

So how lovely it must be,
laid to rest in the most pristine graveyard
you ever did see—
where reality is buried and covered
with a ceramic headstone.
And how beautiful it must feel
to forget the colour of bone.

© Joseph Chin
#satire #comedy #appearance #smile #natural #society #selflove #loveyourself