Afterlife of A Painting

Now I'm convinced and I admit that dead is better

Only as long as there's a way to live forever

The choice was clear then as it is now

I walk the path for immortality

I lived bold with elegance and a sense of pride

Then passed away irrelevant and cast aside

Today I'm the beautiful queen you have crowned

Tomorrow I'm another woman drowned

I was the image of perfect grace

Encapsulated by the painter's trace

I keep the paintings in the afterlife

And for the image I paid the price

The people saw themselves in me with fallen grace

Then tore me down relentlessly to my disgrace

Today I'm the beautiful queen you have crowned

Tomorrow I'm another woman drowned

The fruit is gone now, the tree is bare

And though you've seen me, you will not stare