I could first lay it out like a map
since I like maps
and draw a series of dark red lines
for the main roads leading
from Important Ideas
to the Center of Actual Doing
If this were a true
autobiography of my brain,
those lines would be sketchy or faded
broken in spots
an image of my keys in the top left quadrant
with a lovely clear red line from the bottom right
almost reaching them.
I’d paint a swath of fire engine red
from the bottom left to the top right
across the Anger Center which rubs right up
against Guilt and Envy, a yellow/green combo
with a burlap texture.
Here I’d like to introduce
some thick stitches of Apathy Blue
to sew it all together
toning down the overly vibrant
and rough sickly green
that though I detest,
is still important for a good composition
Light dry brush strokes and splatters
of pinks can signify humor
leaving some white space and gaps
since I usually blow the punch line
thanks to the broken blue map lines
showing what used to be freeways
from the Retrieval Center
but what the map now shows
as four-wheel drive
And by the way there’s a Retrieval Rat.
I don’t like corny
but he’s important to hold it all together.
He’ll be small, lower left corner
with whiskers stretching the entirety
and tail atwitter, not knowing which way to turn
when I send him for something, like the word
frustration—
that, being a series of pthalo blue spikes
which takes up nearly the entire left half of the collage
.
Quinocridone gold Wisdom and Compassion are spirals
undulating through the whole scene peeking out
in unexpected places like next to Envy and, more obviously
just behind Rat, who every heart goes out to
And finally, I will whitewash the whole thing–
Oh, don’t worry it just puts a nice calm haze over everything
so nothing stands out
I call it the Spiritual Glaze
nothing too good, nothing too bad
everything settling together
like a winter’s fog.
