COLORS OF IMAGINATION

I stared at the white
stretch of canvas, so empty and bare
Ready to be splattered with bright 
colors layer by layer
I pictured his face,
so innocent yet full of life,
painted on the cotton base
with my rusty palette knife
The first thing I painted was his 
radiant skin;
The color of cinnamon stirred in warm milk
I struggled to fake that jaw so lean
and glowy like lustrous silk
I mixed and mixed on hours at end,
Copper, rust and brown,
to set the tousled waves and bends 
if the most beautiful hair in town
I swirled my brush
in my palette's tiniest chamber,
in greens so vivid and lush
and enchanting amber
To capture the gaze
that first set my heart ablaze
But alas, why's his smile so sad?
Why is it that his gaze held nothing 
but a lie?
I tell myself the lighting's just had
But he's forever only in my mind's eye