In Defense of Vanity

By John I. Blair

What is vanity but just a yen
For feeling good about myself,
Bad only when it sends me
To idiotic climes?

If you tell me
I am looking fine,
My first reaction
May be self-negation,
But then I'll strive again
To keep my person neat and decent.

If you call me smart
I may remember all the times
(Some quite recent)
When I was wrong,
But thank you nonetheless
And vow once more
To always check my facts
Instead of guess.

If you praise this poem now
Despite its random rhymes,
I'll be inordinately pleased
And likely get a silly grin
Upon my face,
But at the same time wonder
If my poem really merits praise
And push my pen to writing better poems.

©2003 John I. Blair