Canvas of Life

The panels faded o'er time earlier creativity constrains Yet the material value of past visions maintains Canvas now tinted with darker hues; youthful vigor restrains But each, underlying tone, burnished with yesterday's dreams, remains Once gilded strokes now meaningless, paternalistic strains Yet the meandering pattern an innocent quality still contains Each, delicate, insecure swab the grainy picture retains But on the brash backstrokes the forgiving eye trains Every callous blot each year more opprobrium drains But every thoughtful deviation the quilted fabric ingrains    Glossy pictures of green pastures corroded by earthy stains But ephemeral beauty from burgeoning fount surrealistic vista still feigns The counterfeit copy the brokered ideal even more disdains But the bartered images serve to rationalize nominal gains