The Canvas

Am I so hideous a beast that none
may cast a glance of friendship pure or love
so gentle to soothe my aching heart and head?
Am I so evil a being that none may hold my hand
and share kind words with me? I did the deeds,
the evil deeds so long ago. I have some good
in my heart untapped, it waits for the key of love
to come unlock my good from it's cage of hate.
Can a man not change with time and hope not lost?
Do years not etch a new being on the mind
of a man in prison such as the one that keeps me now,
the one that holds me hostage with a chance being
my ransom, a ransom held by those
who know me not but hate me still? I am
a beast with fangs and claws but I am a prince
here shadowed by this past I wear on my back as if
it was a fur coat on hottest summer day.
I ask you, I beg you give me the chance I need.
See below the lies they say and hate they breed.
The years can change a man, mold a man into
what he was not before. The years began so long
ago. See the years in me, see the paint of time,
not the canvas onto which it was flung. See
me friends. See me lover, see me now!