Art

Art

is not decoration
entertainment
cause for rally

should ruffle feathers —
never smooth the bird at rest
but rile the bird into flight

is not harmless
should never be harmless
should pinch
should itch

the world’s getting warmer —
want to know how? see this photo
of the effect of pebble thrown
into water —
the rich are getting richer —
want to know how?  see the
ill-stretched canvas, the thin
paint, see where the cloth shines through —
see how we make do
and what of how our faces rise and fall
in the company of the beloved ones? want to know
how we are then?

So what?  Those are side
issues for

Art

that is never decoration
dressing on wound or 
balm on reddened skin
oil of cloves or
pepper in the nose —

Art

doing something that cannot be described
any other way except as
art
refuses to bend
rigid as firehose on blaze —
the perfect fluid
water
turned to steel 
contained barely
if at all
if released can fly about
striking everything
in long arcs

and only after do we
soaked through
say

those curves
divorced of the impact
pure and
essential
ah
the throat aches for another word
that does not exist
so
we will have to make it up