MASTERPIECE #3457

/// Polish painter Mirecki has made
yet another Self-Portrait. Displayed
in a Warsaw Museum,
where the people can see ’im,
now his fame is less likely to fade.

/// When he’d finished it, was he dismayed
that to paint your own face is clichéd?
Other models had strayed
and he couldn’t persuade
them to pose. They all asked to be paid.

/// Painting “selfies” we ought not abolish.
They build skills time can never demolish.
In his suit black as coal
this self-picturing Pole
shows us how to paint portraits with polish.*

/// Blending in with the dark background there
was the black suit he’d chosen to wear.
The man’s face displays moods
of a blue-blood who broods,
but who can’t do a thing with his hair.

/// We can say one thing on this man’s part:
He may not be exceedingly smart,
or be known for his heart,
or interpret Descartes…
but he throws himself into his art.

*Bootblack?