The Portrait of a Lifetime

Trace an outline blending shade into the gaps between the teeth chewing on age-old leather hungry for more The empty spaces highlight the contrast in a wrinkle Pieces of skin burnt hanging off the brow disintegrate dripping as if wet paint melting beading like sweat or blood at the corner of the mouth sticking the tongue out to taste Repeated scratches make dark circles puddling under the short lashes of the lower lid sagging Where the abstract eye smiles the drooping jaw cries as dead hair grows in patches of cactus and thistle A disturbing image of shedding in an arid landscape The rebirth that only death can bring Tears like rain water the seed While running from the spectre of day painted faces claim to see shimmers in shadows yet refuse to turn and look to check what's really there Seeing color beneath the cracks of paint chipping on the canvas like a hidden door in the wall or a book bound collecting dust until that that moment when opened for the first time in ages taking a step inside the storyline coming back to life