Atmosphere, Paint And Concrete Poem by Douglas Scotney

'The gallery walls were painted
three weeks before the opening
of the video installation, '
she said,
when, two weeks after that,
I went and spent the twenty minutes asked.

I commented on the rank smell of the paint.

A week on,
my recall of the art has grown feint;
that of the reek is still strong.

Another gallery I went into
had unpainted concrete walls.

'I'm a poet, ' I said, 'and I like your care
for qualities of memory and air.'

'I'm one too, ' she said,
'and we boast of our care for those two.
But I'll let you in on a fact:
'No Paint' is in the contract.'