Drapetomania

Did you see that ashen face?
With the smile turned to smoke?
Did you ever stop to think about,
The glassy eyes -
That stood out like opaque dots.
Black pearls -
All seeing yet not so.
The cheek bones strike out -
Jaunty yet haughty.
The touch of grief
Hangs loose-
On the skeletal frame.
The clothes seem to be crisp-
Newly washed. Freshly ironed.
A facade?
One may wonder
Seeing the frail frame-
If love had ever touched it.
Withering flower -
Burnt, spurned and churned,
Yet standing upright.
The scrawny neck sinewy-
Stretched afar to focus on the yonder.
Drapetomania -
The mind cried out silently.