Anatomy of a Still Life

A picture tells a,

Thousand

Words

But mostly hides them all.

Truths spoken

Only in daggers

Behind backs and

Whispered in stair wells.

A vainglorious vignette–

A Still -

life

Portrait

Of

Family fun.

Smiles frozen

In time

As if they

Were happy

As if they even

liked

Each other.

The perfect pose

For social

Media

Prose.

Sure to give the right

Impression of

Care.

A perfect unit

The perfect

Photograph.

For likes

That fade

Faster than they

Share.

skating skillfully

between unasked

and unanswered questions

silent dinners

filled with frivolous talk

and distanced ramblings

of times gone by

the good times

timed out

frozen photographed

smiles still

hiding the secrets

of family unknown

pinned to the wall

with cheap thumb tacks

and packing tape

we are not them anymore

they were never really us

simmering fury

long faded to

simpering

apathy