To the Artist's Page                    To our home page

To Jonathan Penton's previous piece     To Jonathan Penton's next piece

Do you define yourself only
by the shape of those stains
that you cannot scrub off?
Are you the sum total of your miseries?

Are you more than a warning
of what parents should not do?
And while I realize that you have never triumphed

It seems to me your face has character
beyond the lines of defeat
something to offer
beyond this continuing
remembrance