Parted (Edit #1)

[dukealien]

A few notes from another novice at free verse.

1. There is a picture  perhaps "a picture stands"
   
2. on my shelf,
   
3. made by a former lover,  perhaps "painted" rather than made?
   
4. in which a crown
   
5. sits on my head  perhaps "rests on" or "surmounts" (with "as it would a king's" in L6)
   
6. as it would on a king.
   
   
7. She, having parted from my side,
   
8. prefers to erase that past.
   
   
9. I must acknowledge
   
10. it, keep it close, there
    
11. on my shelf, beside the cordial invitation
    
12. to the party where we had our last kiss.  this is a big line - think of "shared" in place of "had" but then press on
    

Your meaning is clear and interesting.  Without (yet) reading other critiques, my basic suggestion would be to use more active and less generalized or common words.  It looks as though this could also shorten some lines, or make it possible to combine them, without losing meaning or rhythm.

In L7-8, "parted" suggests (to me) a splitting group - "we parted" - where "she" and "side" are already apart.  Perhaps a different expression, "She, having seen me off/prefers..."

Keep editing and rearranging; once you've found th better word, see what else it changes, then return to find if that suggests an even better one.

An enjoyable poem.  Has sparks; with more edits, could sparkle.