The Vision

Art comes first as gift,
wild, free and liberating.
You think you’re going to soar
and soar you do.
But angels have been known
to rip apart
a man’s limbs.
Tucked beneath the wing,
the knife.
First just a stab,
then a neat square sliced
into the pit
of your necessity.
Out from this opened core
pours the new thing,
unsung, unheard, untold.

Colors that implode,
implore. You have a choice.
But more painful
is the choice
to not receive the prayer.
Still, it does not mind if you resist,
as long as you resist hard.
Art is a carnivorous bird.
It needs live flesh
to make it live;
eats strong flesh
to make it strong.

Copyright © 2000 Susan Dane Setin • All rights reserved.
Selection from GOOD-BYE TO WHITE KNIGHTS and other moving vehicles—III. One Hand.
Painting: “Essence of Beauty” by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, watercolor, 2011.