Replying to
Alistair, who said...
JACKSON POLLOCK WON’T FLY
James Kerns
When she turned to art metaphors
To describe her feelings
I began studying the bottoms
Of kitchen drawers for patterns.
I didn't get it, but I worked hard.
At first she was understanding:
"Tell me what is the shape,
Color, and texture of your confusion?" she asked.
"It's like a tunnel under water," I told her,
"Cold, gray, and streaked with spiny lights."
"I'm not reading you," she told me.
I wasn't surprised, but I stopped
Poking around the kitchen at night.
You can't miss what you haven't had
After all, anymore than you can get
Airsick without ever leaving the ground.
She told me the world looks a lot
Better inside the proper frame,
But I think art is something more
Than sliding a piece of plywood
Underneath a pigeon roost.
And I had big plans for love
That weren't fuzzy, mauve ovals
Descending in a field of Red.