Motherless, myopic boy
grown now into this calm face,
self-made world famous,
named before his friends
(John, Paul, George, Ringo),

the wittiest of the four, 
the most colorful,  
the one who chose love
bravely, publicly
(freely, sloppily).

The kind of poster
college freshmen buy
in student union buildings.

Okay, the kind that this one
bought long long ago, seeing 
a day in the life
of a man -- not a "young man" --
no, just that: A man 

chiaroscuro’d before 
the psychedelic
tour he’d lead us on. 

He’d never grow old.

_{Written in community VerseLove, a group of mostly educators writing a poem every day of April (National Poetry Month). The prompt for today: Write an ekphrastic poem.}