Face off

How to face the mirror
           each day
and know what has
           and what hasn’t been done
With a razor
           I cut away the shadow
leaving the skin
           clean as a whistle

I notice around the eyes
           a few lines are forming
and another deeper one
           bisects my forehead
when I frown
           I try not to frown
but life as you know
           can be a little testing
at times
           so I write
and I paint without
           any particular talent
and one day drips
           into another
and every morning
           it’s the same old face
confronting me
           in the mirror

John Lyons