Shade | Teen Ink

Shade MAG

February 1, 2009
By Danielle Charette BRONZE, Durham, Connecticut
Danielle Charette BRONZE, Durham, Connecticut
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Rock star,
drug addict,
or geriatric on the rebound from cataract surgery,
she said,
are the only legitimate personas for sunglass-wearing.

But what about style and flirtation and Jackie O?

What about beaches
and tan lines
and ocean-stained copies of Time?

What about adolescence
and wrinkled hot dogs
and the velvety shores of Jersey?

Do you have an opinion on the grammatically stunted drugstore novel
or the vulgarity of toe rings?

What of that sapphire swimsuit that’s missing three jewels
and chapped lips
and that obscene practice permissible only after achieving a stupefied state of tourism (long after fanny packs and card decks) known as bike-renting?

Seriously, Mother, what do you make of chuckling quietly at women
whose shrunken, upturned noses can’t support their aviators,
or that psychedelic rainbow emitted by misshapen lenses,
rivaled only by oil leaks in the parking lots of supermarkets?

Nonsense. UV rays are fictionalized by the same people
who invented evolution and
global warming
and NASA.

No daughter of mine shall subscribe to that mongering,
that hullabaloo.
You’ll just have to squint.

But when she turned, I shaded my rusty eyes anyway,
if for no other reason than to shield myself for a little while against that blinding
light source
called humanity.



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This article has 86 comments.


on Apr. 21 2010 at 6:00 am
Dunkelheitstieg BRONZE, Baldwin, Florida
4 articles 0 photos 92 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The poet ranks far below the painter in the representation of visible things, and far below the musician in that of invisible things. Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?,"Leonardo da Vinci.

wow........................................it was so good that i'm speechless

Eilatan GOLD said...
on Apr. 21 2010 at 5:36 am
Eilatan GOLD, Old Greenwich, Connecticut
11 articles 1 photo 307 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Nobody is normal. Everybody in the world is a weirdo freak. Except you, which makes you a weirdo freak."

THIS IS SO AMAZING!!!!!! I CAN NOT GET OVER HOW UNBELIEVABLY GOOD THIS IS!!!!!!!!!!!

on Apr. 12 2010 at 6:00 pm
margierose GOLD, New York, New York
11 articles 5 photos 24 comments
I love this!! You took something as every-day as sunglasses and gave it greater meaning 

vchdeo GOLD said...
on Mar. 30 2010 at 2:09 pm
vchdeo GOLD, Kansas City, Montana
10 articles 0 photos 4 comments

THIS IS WONDERFUL

so glad to find a peice of poetry on here that isn't related to a teenage relationship/breakup/something stupid


on Mar. 8 2010 at 10:07 pm
gregeron91 SILVER, Salem, Alabama
9 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted.
-Jack Kerouac

This might possibly be the best piece of poetry on this site. Your style reminds me a lot of the late great Allen Ginsburg. Congratulations on being such a true poet.

on Mar. 8 2010 at 4:30 pm
brysmarie12 PLATINUM, Neoga, Illinois
22 articles 1 photo 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
I am the author of my own life... unfortunately I'm writing in pen and can't erase my mistakes.

Wow... this is really good! Please check out my work and comment... I love the feedback!

on Feb. 14 2010 at 6:57 pm
Metamorfeame BRONZE, Pacoima, California
3 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
No te vares por la realidad

i love what its about sso much..really good job!=)....check out my poetry id appreciate it

on Feb. 14 2010 at 2:08 am
sammyso3 SILVER, Hastings, Nebraska
9 articles 0 photos 21 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We have to be continually jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down." Kurt Vonnegut

*whistles* Love the imagery.

on Jan. 23 2010 at 3:37 pm
Only,I PLATINUM, Taylorville, Illinois
45 articles 17 photos 123 comments

Favorite Quote:
This too shall pass.

I love this. It's so honest and blunt. I love it.

Well done:)

on Dec. 10 2009 at 8:30 pm
EternalSunshine GOLD, High Bridge, New Jersey
14 articles 9 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi

i really, really like this! and my mom is the same way too, she tells me evolution and global warming are bull crap ahah. i really related to this poem, good job!

jimmy_a GOLD said...
on Dec. 10 2009 at 10:27 am
jimmy_a GOLD, Sanford, North Carolina
12 articles 0 photos 40 comments

Favorite Quote:
Look for me, not with a flashlight but open your heart n free your soul n there my love i shall be

yo really good poem makes you look at the world in many different lights i love the mood of this work. Good Job!

on Nov. 18 2009 at 2:31 pm
calephchad BRONZE, Guin, Alabama
4 articles 0 photos 84 comments
I love the atmosphere you express in this poem. Very influential. !

on Nov. 18 2009 at 11:02 am
Wow, this was amazing. i really felt it, please keep it up!

E.Lee GOLD said...
on Nov. 18 2009 at 10:05 am
E.Lee GOLD, Akron, Ohio
15 articles 0 photos 168 comments
i love this:D

great work! keep it up

Zero_K DIAMOND said...
on Nov. 14 2009 at 6:43 pm
Zero_K DIAMOND, Moosic, Pennsylvania
83 articles 0 photos 435 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life's no fun if you're not insane, otherwise you grow up to be an accountant." -Moi

Ha ha, awesomeness. I love this. <(n.n)>

-Blessed Be!

+++ZERO+++

on Oct. 27 2009 at 10:29 pm
B.R.Nack SILVER, Grand Junction, Colorado
5 articles 0 photos 47 comments

Favorite Quote:
“...Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”
--Stephen King

That was great!^^

on Oct. 27 2009 at 9:52 am
ColbyMartin BRONZE, Amarillo, Texas
1 article 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
Give Peace A Chance.

Also, your drawing reminds me of Sid Vicious from the Pistols.

on Oct. 27 2009 at 9:51 am
ColbyMartin BRONZE, Amarillo, Texas
1 article 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
Give Peace A Chance.

Dude, look up the following songs:

Half of Two Times Two by Barr.

The Song is the Single by Barr.

Both remind me of your poem.

Great lyrics.

-C

Tierra SILVER said...
on Jun. 17 2009 at 9:03 pm
Tierra SILVER, Detroit, Michigan
5 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
Never take anything for a fool cause one day you'll wake up and come to see that its no longer there!- Me

all i have to say is that this poem came from the heart and its helped me relize many shades of life!

_EmC_ BRONZE said...
on Jun. 17 2009 at 2:40 pm
_EmC_ BRONZE, Jacksonville, Florida
4 articles 0 photos 2 comments
This poem is beautiful, full of vivid imagery that brings to sharper focus the more glossed-over aspects of humanity. I have to disagree with some of the above posters who asked you to clarify your intent - I thought that your single effect was portrayed very clearly and brought the reader to a new understanding.

The one issue I had with this piece was the two differing voices. Of course, this is a stylistic choice, but I'd prefer to have a greater difference in tone when you switch between voices.

Just my thoughts. It's a wonderful piece. Keep writing!