a frame,
moat-like,
rings this unfinished
portrait

skin that has been rendered with
undercoating
the palest shade
of jade gray

a pastiche in multi-media
cloth of questionable fiber
cigarette butt air-strips
photographic miasma
cardboard roses

the acolyte regards
in reverential tones
itself unworthy,
second suspicions
tries on a third shirt,
eyeliner and medication

greasepaint cracked
the marquee is sputtering
burgundy velvet sleeves
moth-tread and musty
a trace scent of gaslight

a frame,
handsome,
barely contains
this spilling

© Tom Watters  5/4/06