Hollywood Skin Trade
by Michael Doyle

Eternal stars crack but never fade away.
People and their things are relics of yesterday.
Birthdays are reminders of time thrown away.
In so many words, there is ugliness in what they say.

Like a fly swimming, leaning toward the wall.
It inevitably matters as all stars recall
That men age and no one notices graciously,
And women gain one wrinkle, and fame ends sadly.

Birthdays are only happy outside of Hollywood.
It's a trick of light well understood.
Candles atop a whipped cream Champagne cake
Adds up to that it is, just one more mistake.

Dead roses dance past the St. James Infirmary
While posters on the wall echo the injury.
A substance unlocks an ageless perversion,
But the first glance whispers of a better version.

One for one, life renews in a unity of self.
Microscopes and textbooks line the lab's shelf.
We all know what seems too good often is bad advice.
Meanwhile, a snow globe shaken hints at coming sacrifice.

Birthdays are only happy outside of Hollywood.
It's a trick of light well understood.
Candles atop a whipped cream Champagne cake
Adds up to that it is, just one more mistake.

The stars we gaze at are already dead.
Wasn't there a warning in what science said?
Dreams hint at life's less-than-gentle infirmity,
But a less than you star clings to her mortality.

Hollywood back alleys may promise an improbable cure,
But you can bet the motives for it are less than pure.
What is it that you are willing to readily sacrifice?
Will a new self for an old self prove enough to suffice?

Birthdays are only happy outside of Hollywood.
It's a trick of light well understood.
Candles atop a whipped cream Champagne cake
Adds up to that it is, just one more mistake.

Giving birth through mitosis is an ethical slide
Down a slippery slope unless your star needs to divide.
Old self for new self is a bargain to be made,
Only the weak are smart enough to be afraid.

It feels a miracle to be find yourself young again.
Steps must be taken to be comfortable in one's skin.
It all comes to what you'll do to get that part,
With a smile like that, she comes across as pure of heart.

Birthdays are only happy outside of Hollywood.
It's a trick of light well understood.
Candles atop a whipped cream Champagne cake
Adds up to that it is, just one more mistake.

The switch is made at a Hell of a price.
But can it be too much to pay for something so nice?
As the star learns to see these things through,
Living life chases after sets of endless clues.

What is it that she'll give for eternity?
It's a trade-off given for her immortality.
It is, after all, just a game of sheerest vanity
Here, between the walls of Hollywood's feigned sanity.

Birthdays are only happy outside of Hollywood.
It's a trick of light well understood.
Candles atop a whipped cream Champagne cake
Adds up to that it is, just one more mistake.

(c) October 24, 2025   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved