HP Lovecraft Views the Mona Lisa

a year ago that smile
i thought they'd painted onto you
seemed stale
like breath trapped inside a museum

i thought it was paint
but months' obsession abscessed in me
and i felt unwhole
unholy

    as if pieces of my soul
    were fitted into your mouth
    with chunks from souls of other centuries

    making your smile fuller
    deeper     more mysterious
    and hungrier

from Purgatorial (2004)