Self-Portrait Poem by Laurence Overmire

The essence of a life is in the face
Each wrinkle etched with a memory

What was once young and beautiful becomes
Old and haggard with time

A life hard-lived, hard-won
Battles waged in vain

Losses by the score
Imbedded now in the sadness of the eyes

A dollop of paint, a muted color
The artist captures the decades

With the flick of a brush.


(Previously published in ArtsFusion, Dec 99-Jan 00, Issue 17)