Why a roulette wheel is related
to Leonardo da Vinci is
between you and our father
who believed motion talked to art.
That you wanted to see
the rotting soles of Michelangelo's
feet that stuck to his boots
while he painted the Sistene Chapel,
was because you were a boy
looking for an excuse not to bathe.
That van Gogh cut off his ear
made it easy for you to quit paying rent.
Drugs helped you understand Escher,
and Dali's The Persistence Of Memory,
justified your abuse. You sold blood to buy canvas.
You called ketchup on a napkin a meal.
Because I revered Einstein and Bach,
Beethoven for me explained relativity,
You painted the universe three times.
You talked little. Then, You painted trees.
Your silence gave me words,
your paintings alleviated my blindness.
I could not run fast or draw
a straight line, so I became a poet.
I called suicidal poets cowards,
You called suicidal artists heroes.
I chased my muse; you chased your death.
We parted like a train and a faltering kite.
In the brush of a janitor's mop,
I see your life evaporate as the drying
floor is swept by invisible ink.
In the art museums of Europe,
I try to feel your spirit.
They are haunted; I am possessed.

Gayle M. Petty

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