self-portrait
My Poem “Self-reflection”
My life has always been one of constant reinvention... every day the man in the mirror reminds me that you cannot move forwards if you continue to live your life in reflection... my life has always been one of questions, answers, and the pursuit of mystery... every day the voice within me tells me to never give up, to stay true to myself, and no matter what I do continue to be a poet and an author of my own poetry. We can only live our lives by embracing what feels right at the time... we can only see what we capture with our eyes... we can sometimes only be free when we are sleeping and dreaming at night... we can only compare two sides when we are given a deeper insight. Some people will never truly know you, nor ever understand why you do what you do and sometimes that can be frustrating - especially when you want someone to "get you", to like you, and to want to engage with you... some people can be drawn to people, some people can be intimidated by people, some people can be intrigued by people, some people can know people as soon as they meet them, because they see themselves in them as if they were their own reflection.
My Poem ‘Selfie’
Long before the ‘selfie’ was the “selfie”,
long before we used to take pictures of ourselves
with our cameras and share them with our friends,
the ‘selfie’ used to be known as the ‘self-portrait’ –
and, to this day, it is a way
for an artist to show people
what they look like so they can see
who they are, where, and when;
so, the so-called ‘selfie’
has been around for hundreds of years –
however, instead of using paint
to create our self-portraits,
we now use our reflections
as they appear in mirrors.
It is a time-honored tradition
to take pictures of ourselves,
and to me it is in no way egotistical
or self-indulgent;
it is the most important thing
to capture memories and to show how
someone appeared when they had moments to remember,
and when they were happy and in full-health –
and that is why I believe
the self-portraits that we capture and take daily
are brilliant.
If you are comfortable to take a photo of yourself,
it just shows that you are happy in yourself
and how you look;
those who don’t have the same level of self-acceptance
in their appearance would seldom choose
to take a picture of themselves,
because there is something about them
that they would change if they could.
There is nothing wrong with taking a photo of yourself,
especially if the reason that you are taking the picture
is because their is no one else around
to take a photo of you;
people have been posing for pictures
since cavemen were captured on cave-walls
in paintings of hunters hunting gazelles;
if you have a camera in-hand
and you want to show someone what you look like
in a second, why wouldn’t you?
Self-portraits are art;
in this day and age,
you can create a self-portrait instantly;
self-portraits are our signature
and our unique mark;
self-portraits may no longer be called ‘self-portraits’
today in the digital age –
however, they are still what they were,
even if they now have a new same:
the “selfie”.
Mark The Poet 