Self-Portrait

canvas and mirror

by Evie Shockley

 

self-portrait with cats, with purple, with stacks

      of half-read books adorning my desk, with coffee,

 

                  with mug, with yesterday's mug. self-portrait

            with guilt, with fear, with thick-banded silver ring,

 

      painted toes, and no make-up on my face. self-

            portrait with twins, with giggles, with sister at

 

                  last, with epistrophy, with crepescule with nellie,

with my favorite things. self-portrait with hard

 

head, with soft light, with raised eyebrow. self-

      portrait voo-doo, self-portrait hijinks, self-portrait

 

                  surprise. self-portrait with patience, with political

            protest, with poetry, with papers to grade. self-

 

      portrait as thaumaturgic lass, self-portrait as luna

            larva, self-portrait as your mama. self-portrait

 

                  with self at sixteen. self-portrait with shit-kickers,

with hip-huggers, with crimson silk, with wild

 

mushroom risotto and a glass of malbec. self-

      portrait with partial disclosure, self-portrait with

 

                  half-truths, self-portrait with demi-monde. self-

            portrait with a night at the beach, with a view

 

      overlooking the lake, with cancelled flight. self-

            portrait with a real future, with a slight chance of

 

                  sours, with glasses, with cream, with fries, with

a way with words, with a propositional phrase.

 

 

Pic Credit: Frieda Kahlo’s Self Portrait with Bonito (1941)