can you think your way
into art
while feeling your way
past the artists 

can you hear
a keened note
from Miles’ horn
and not feel it
at least a bit
as the whistle-wind of his hand
cutting through the air
to land on a woman’s cheek

can you read Sexton
and not sense that the lessons of torture
which she rendered so delicately
were learned as much
through her infliction of it
as her suffering from it

can you watch Brando
and marvel at his sensitivity
while forgetting
his dead, stunted children

and can you
see through me through my words
and know I’m
a bad, bad boy
as often as I’m
a full-on man 

if you can answer these questions 
at all
no matter how you answer

please
more than glib is owed
to some questions
more than outbursts of disgust
or simpleton indulgence
for the creative process

please
don’t answer easily 
more than that
is owed to these