Shadow Portraits

Fly away hair and broken
roman noses are displayed
to perfection in shadows
that slide along dimpled walls,
disguising the imperfections
of mind and soul.
A monochromatic scheme
induces judgment without
the sustenance of life's color,
leaving but a bland rhapsody
that quickly dissipates
from ones near sited vision.
Bone structures are familiar
yet alien, like inconsistent whispers
overheard between the creaks
of bowed floorboards, truth outdone
by restless termite's scrambling,
a surging static.
These are portraits, one sided,
painted in half-truths
by candid lights, positioned
before we are known.