As the writer wrote,
and the poet spoke,
words then began to flow
like paint being
poured out onto the canvas
in preparation for a painting.
The paintbrush gets dipped
and then dragged across
the white surface,
like the pen dancing
around a page to produce
a product that is then
labeled ART.
Whether it be spoken, written,
or to be looked at,
we all hold inside us a passion
that seeks to be expressed,
Emboldened.
Kindled, and stoked,
like a fire by the world
around me.
My passion is ablaze, red.
Red like the sun comin’ upon
the end of the days.
Red like the ink used
to fill in the outlines
of the eyes of the raging bull
tattoo placed upon the back of
a human canvas.
Red like the crimson oils
that lay upon brown bristles,
used to colorfully depict
a crisp, life-like apple,
painted upon the once white void
held up by a wooden easel.
Ease is not a word that
should cross an artist’s mind.
Ease is easily an illusion.
My mind battles day in, and day out,
like a mid-evil war.
Catapults, and battering rams,
of complacence barraging
into the the tall walls
used to fortify my ambitions.
Seeping through the walls
like a shapeless ooze,
is a deceitful peace saying
“Write this, it’ll be easy”
and whispering
“this is too difficult, you should quit”
“You’re no where near legit, so why even try?”
But my passion,
my light,
guides me past these shadows.
My passion is like a lighthouse,
guiding warships to launch
cannon balls at the catapults,
and to barraging the battering rams
that attempt to eclipse my eyes,
with lies.
Compromising with comfort will
cause me to fail myself,
not only as an artist, but as a person.
It’s a disease.
One I’ll never know I had.
To fix the bad,
one must place themselves
outside their comfort zone.
Become someone who they never knew
could be.
Facing fear head on,
is the only way to break
the vicious cycle.
For some artists,
that’s taking their work to a stage.
For some, it’s putting their paintings on public display.
For some, it’s writing their first lyrics,
and tracking them over a song.
And for some, it’s picking up the pen, brush, pencil,
or starting up a recording program, for the first time.
For me, it’s bringing my poetry
to the stage to come alive
beyond the page.
Whatever it looks like for you,
never let the fear win.
And never let the shadows shine
brighter than your love for your craft.
