My Face | Teen Ink

My Face MAG

November 24, 2009
By Myrtle25 BRONZE, New York, New York
Myrtle25 BRONZE, New York, New York
2 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Every year my mom shook her head, disappointed.
She always sent the pictures back.
So my brother, my sister and I
Remained faceless for years until
The bare piano, bereft of smiling children,
Complained that it needed a new face,
With no baby fat.

We ventured to Sears.
Waiting,
Surrounded by beaming babies, perfect parents,
Framed forever on display,
I imagined what my picture portrait would look like.

The smiley photographer beckoned me in.
I perched on the raised stool, stood up straight,
Tilted
On the expressionless white floor,
Blinked
My eyes to ward away
Those powerful, laughing lights
Under the looming umbrellas.
The lights laughed louder
As the photographer kept snapping portraits.

He handed me silly props
A Santa Claus hat, which I declined, and
Even a rubber duckie.
I wondered how the photographer came up
With these things
Why they even existed.
Am I not enough to complete my own picture?

In the end I settled grudgingly for a fake, pink flower
Which I mostly cropped
Out of the picture.
Somehow, that flower portrait came out the best,
Despite the grimace behind my smile.


The author's comments:
Have you ever been disgusted with school pictures? They never seem to come out right. An irritating photographer drove me to write this.

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This article has 2 comments.


so_joy SILVER said...
on Sep. 12 2012 at 9:07 pm
so_joy SILVER, Navesink, New Jersey
8 articles 0 photos 722 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be the change you want to see."

I like this very much. Fantastic work. Great job! Keep Writing! Please read, rate, and comment on my poems! Thanks!

KatsK DIAMOND said...
on May. 20 2012 at 3:24 pm
KatsK DIAMOND, Saint Paul, Minnesota
57 articles 0 photos 301 comments

Favorite Quote:
Being inexhaustible, life and nature are a constant stimulus for a creative mind.<br /> ~Hans Hofmann<br /> You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.<br /> ~Ray Bradbury

I really like this. I hate school photos, and the awkward positions they make you hold. My mom (who is a teacher) got a really sketchy-looking background that didn't make her look very good, and then I read the message on the envelope, "Smiles you'll cherish for a lifetime!". I think my mom got retakes.