The Picture of Dorian Gray

Inspired by the Oscar Wilde story of the same name

There's a picture that I'm painting,
The most amazing work I've ever done.
It's a portrait you will recognize as me,
And heart and soul are mixed in with the oils.

Every wrinkle on the face is a crime I won't admit,
Every smear is a heartache I won't show.
And I still remain unravaged by the passing of the years,
No blemish shows the guilt that ever grows.

There's a picture that I'm hiding,
The most revealing work I've ever done.
Its a picture you can't recognise as me,
And yet my soul is mixed in with the oils

I stabbed the portrait through the canvas and my own heart,
Ills repaid as the picture's soul flew free.
Now a torn and empty body near a pristine canvas lies,
And no one to pay witness to the deed.

© Jessica Prett August 2001