Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Self Portrait of the Virgin Mary

For Cecilia Oleksak

On the east coast, my twin paints
children and the living of lives.

Oils spread out, form life, on a tight canvas.
There’s a face, an arm, maybe a heartbeat.

Possibly Ann Arbor, Michigan or
the East Race. Perhaps a broken Heineken
bottle collapsed on a corner of Clark St.

The texture is raised, the memory faded.

How about a portrait of a bar scene?
Capture another drunken alley moment.
Wrestle an Indian, fire a gun, take a hit.

Somebody’s missing hand covers
a dartboard’s plastic bull’s-eye.
There’s a mismatched set of Jesus sandals
on a pool table and a neon Grey Goose
is nailed to a stud on a bathroom wall.

Music that will soon be in a commercial
plays from a retro-looking jukebox,
crumpled dollar bills made it past the sensor.

On the east coast my twin puts away the paints.

A crucifix over a nightstand, rosary beads
on a floor and the cry of a saxophone fill rooms.

The scene is still wet, not enough time to dry.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

great stuff, all the time!! DDL

10:08 AM  
Blogger Neil Kelly said...

Thanks, David. I really appreciate that.

3:20 PM  
Blogger Neil Kelly said...

and Thank you, Charmi!

3:46 PM  

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