The Painting

A haunting and evocative poem that uses the image of a painting as its portal—inviting the reader into the fractured space between canvas and truth, seeing and being seen. With lines that suggest scars, silences, and the muted weight of what’s left unspoken, this piece asks: what happens to us when we become the subject of someone else’s gaze? Who paints whom, and what gets erased in the frame?