Sunday, March 13, 2011

Performance Art


I know what you think it is
but it’s not so take
your patronizing condescension
masking disapproving condescension
elsewhere, if you please and
even if you don’t please for
I don’t work the streets
I live the streets and
the streets live me
they are my canvas and
I am the paint or sometimes
the watercolors to wash
away the rain
so if I stick three cigarettes
in my mouth it’s art;
I’m dying.

This poem is submitted for One Shot Sunday hosted by One Stop Poetry. To see other poems prompted by the photo, please visit the site.

Photograph by Fee Easton. Used with permission for One Stop Poetry.
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10 comments:

  1. knot eyeMarch 13, 2011 at 8:06 AM

    "it's art"...subjective approval

    horror can destroy beauty

    Peace, hp

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  2. dustusMarch 13, 2011 at 8:29 AM

    After declaring she is not a pro, there is a great transition within your poem that really works well...

    "they are my canvas and
    I am the paint or sometimes
    the watercolors to wash
    away the rain"

    Very precise, in-your-face statements that still retain a melody. Also, like the repetition—good word choices to repeat.

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  3. Brian MillerMarch 13, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    nice...i think i like this girl...and the art she weaves...at least she seems determined in who she is....

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  4. AnonymousMarch 13, 2011 at 10:48 AM

    Smoking used to be the rebels cause now it's Tge models choice- I agree, it's not art but your portrayal of the photo certainly is

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  5. signed...bkmMarch 13, 2011 at 11:03 AM

    love how you weave her into the art of the street, our perception in not the artists perception...nice take...bkm

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  6. hedgewitchMarch 13, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    Very creative take on this, turning the negative into a kind of positive, even as reality peeks through in its own grim light. Tight and nicely crafted.

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  7. Louise GallagherMarch 13, 2011 at 4:40 PM

    glynn -- your words gives voice to her story.

    Powerful.

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  8. James RainsfordMarch 13, 2011 at 5:46 PM

    Very well observed. This matches the image with the words in a very evocative manner. Excellent job!

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  9. Doug SpurlingMarch 13, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    ?

    I have much to learn.

    I was thinking I should pray for her. No?

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  10. Steve IsaakMarch 17, 2011 at 6:56 PM

    Solid work, love the end-lines.

    ReplyDelete