My father always had a picture
hanging up over the mantle.

It was an oil,
possibly acrylic, painting.

I've always been terrible with art,
and the definitions and distinctions
therein.

It had a gold-leaf frame, and I recall,
as a child, staring at the shine
that the sun reflected off of the
beautiful gold that surrounded the
picture.

The picture itself, however, was
far more extraneous:
a deer head and the body of a businessman.

The suited businessman's body sat in a chair,
within the painting, but instead of a man's head
poking out of the collar, there was a deer's head.
It was adorned with antlers, two to be exact, and
it sat above that mantle, staring emotionless into you
or the distance.

I was never sure which it was.

And after my father passed, I inherited the deer head
and the body of a businessman.