IN VAIN

Desperation days gone by.
Obsessed with reinforcement.
Innuendos kept her high,
affirming each endorsement.

Superficial nourishment
sustained a cold starvation.
Vacancy was close behind
brief moments of elation.

Approval sought in every man
foreign or familiar.
Life replaced by fantasies
that never seemed to fill her.

Misdirected power lies.
Awareness follows age.
Acceptance from the friend within,
our only valid gauge.

Janet Brice Parker