Instead

Instead

A portrait is without a word,

sadly said to speak louder

than some overly-used verb.

We are nouns ourselves,

ink upon a dusty echoing time

biographies on bookshelves.

That pic of me in tender youth

looks nothing like what I do now

mourning another lost tooth.

Words come fast to an old tune

sounding much unlike what's new

and an ending come far too soon.

Long after I'm considered dead

rather than an image within

please remember my words instead.

-- Patrick B. Coomer