still a dream unfulfilled

                                                                                   Artist: Lucas Cranach the Elder
Image: The Fountain of Youth (here)
The oldies above came in droves to be stripped naked
(mandatory) to frolic in the Fountain of Youth and to
emerge later a youthful specimen radiant and fresh.
How nice!

APED given words:
bones stone lack day fountain,
paper dream fly girls trauma

3WW given words:
lonely boring dark

make no bones about it
lively anticipation unlike lonely
and boring nights

the quest of many through the ages
to the Far East and to the New World
where many even lost their lives
stoned into cravings for eternal youth
the elixir of life

no lack of efforts nor
days and wealth sacrificed
to pursue for the restorative fountain
the fountain of youth

if only the clock could
be rewound a few long years back
to the reverse of  Back to the Future
the very essence of the hope on paper
might not be insurmountable
but the reality of failed ventures
still a dream unfulfilled

but were we done?
no not just yet
no more territorial incursions
but now more to be hoodwinked
by the unscrupulous on the gullible
with anti-aging pills and processes
peddled by fly-by-night elements

the pseudo plastic surgeons
who profess to be experts
putting at risk young girls
or middle-aged hopefuls
under the surgeon's knives
with alarming dark effects

It ended with a trauma 
of hideous and grotesque results
to face and limbs
still a dream unfulfilled

For Thomg's hosting at 3WW week #436 and
Vinay's at APED's Prompt 45 Mid-week Wordle #7