Craquelure

My word: craquelure - a network of fine cracks in either the paint or varnish of a painting.

My connection: Well, I was going to choose crapulent, catarolysis or cockalorum as they would be quite funny. Then, I found craquelure. It made me think about my long-standing views on ageing and the high, ridiculous beauty standards placed on people, predominately by the media, big businesses, influencers and celebrities, or at least the culture and business they inhabit. Societal pressures to maintain unrealistic standards when ageing is something we all go through has never sat well with me. When I see lines on a face, I don't ever think I've thought "ew". I know that not everyone loves their lines, cracks and imperfections, whether age-related or stress-related. But, in my opinion, like craquelure that naturally develops on an old painting, the lines on a face and imperfections add to an individual, rather than making them less. Fine lines and grey hair should be admired and respected. Plus, does it matter what someone looks like? Like, really?

Craquelure

Life, we know, comes with many an up and down

it's hard some days to manage without a frown

The good, bad, ugly, pretty and worse

Will eventually, lead you to the hearse

So, why fret over the fine lines, and creases

A life lived impresses on your skin's canvas

When the painted surface of artistic masterpieces

Develop fine lines, and other imperfect creases

No one bemoans the development of craquelure

Instead, those paintings have greater allure

As the age and history of pieces of antiquity

Garners respect and admiration with dignity

A life lived, flaws and all, stress and lines

Is proof of a journey and history that shines

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Thanks for reading!

Author's Notes: This is for Penny Fuller's Part C: Part C: The A-Z of Unusual Words Challenge.

Here are some other things: