Face Reflections
 
Making the face we get
starts with amoretto cheeks
beneath storybook eyes,
silken strands draped across the brow,
curious noses,
innocent lips.
 
Upon canvases so pure
strokes the brush of time,
dips into the palette of reality,
layering change upon change.
 
Colors,
some untainted,
others muddy.
 
Drying.
 
Cracking.
 
Flaking.
 
What of these reflections…
 
One’s personal artwork
now retired to Life’s attic of truth,
propped up against the inescapable walls of mind,
withdrawn into sheltered memories of yesterday-faces.

Once upon a time,
Smiles and frowns were formed for their own sake,
sad or happy,
rejecting or accepting,
knowing denial’s manufactured masks
were reserved for reality’s make-believe.

Face reflections know not lies