Smile LinesAge comes to

Smile Lines Age comes to most unwillingly. Crumbling the foundation of the body. The human infrastructure decreasing to the shell of a former self: The n o s e widens, ears grow, lips shrink, hair sprouts in strange places. There is a duality to age. A double standard between men and women. Men become distinguished, more attractive and powerful. Leaving a woman to feel as if her fall from beauty is lost in better days and trapped in beauty creams and Botox. I remember a middle aged woman fixing her makeup in a public bathroom, who eyed the plastic faces of the woman that surrounded her. Peering back at her reflection her smile lines turned into wrinkles. This woman could have been anyone; A mother, sister, or wife. The women that gave themselves unconditionally giving in to warped perspectives. Though the body withers and struggles against the beating of time, one feature remains constant; The eyes. They never age, yet one glance tells the story of a life worth lived While society continues-- to look down their noses.