Portrait

Portrait

Not flattering or moving.

I give you an aspersion.

An overly exposed close-up.

It promises clarity

like a flute’s limpid notes.

Realize.

Its unsettled grace

crevassed

with provocative ambition

and a mob’s intoxicating violence.

I am looking in.

No magnetic warmth or magical allure.

So, I disorder the senses.

Like a skilled photographer

I embrace your stance

off-kilter

Prepare

for my camera’s

close eye.

Manipulate

your warmth.

Be rendered.

To the illusion that intimate study

reveals.

words by Lisa Murphy-Lamb