The Audience

Performance Poetry (Poetry Slam Assignment)...inspired by Massive Image by Robert Motherwell.

A wave passes through,

Pulling me along:

Where am I going?

Where have I been?

It’s the audience: calling out to me�"

From Nature’s own bosom, so I see.

Whirlwinds of emotion…disappear

Into mounds and copious fields of black

Splashed upon with blood-red tears

Of crying children thrown upon

Sadly crumbling smoke-stacked cities.

 

Then, I turn from the tempestuous

Images of death and destruction

And tunnel through walls of fear�"

A puzzle of my own intermingling

In the crimson blood of lost Freedom�"

Sniffing for the cheese:

Composed of Mother Nature’s Liberty.

 

On the edges of Man’s own Creation,

Mother Nature cries out:

To Her children sinking in black holes of doom.

 

I wish them success!

I wish they return…

I hear Nations crying “We’ll prevail!”

I hear Nations crying on their own…

While Man’s own doom

Encircle and imprisons all…

 

The pressure is too great then!

I cannot breathe inside this cave!

I rush to escape the iron claw of Man,

I rush to reach Nature’s gentle paws,

But the gate begins to close upon me.

As I reach the field of white,

I scream; and my scream is not mine

But screams of generations before

Oppressed by this dark cloud.

 

I gasp again,

 

And suddenly

I am there:

 

Rewarded by warm and gentle

Beams of light that lift me�"

Carry me over the bones of

Those who tried to break away�"

Allowing me to catch my breath,

Before dipping me in pools

Of creamy white,

And laying me on fields

Of promised fluffy white;

Where upon I bask in Glory…

Author's Note

Here is a description of the artwork: "Robert Motherwell painted this piece shortly before his death. In this painting, he covers, scrapes and re-covers large areas of canvas with black paint. However, he leaves part of the compositions blank or covers it with white and ochre. Therefore, a "massive" weight looks precariously balanced. The large scale of the painting physically wraps around the peripheral vision and overwhelms the viewer."

Reviews

[Lorraine]

I'm not really inclined to arts so I can't really say I understand the artwork you're describing. However, I can see where this poem takes its creativity from. The way you describe scenarios is very detailed and creative. Good Poem.

Keep Writing. ^___^