Illuminating The Past And Present Poem by gershon hepner

The present may illuminate the past,
the past illuminates the present,
because by both the die is cast,
and when we see a lunar crescent
we know that brightness will replace
the empty shadow it surrounds,
which will, in turn, when full in face,
diminish, hiding out of bounds.
Look up and see the changing moon,
remembering what it has been,
inferring from its face that soon
what was will once again be seen.

Michael Kimmelman says in 'Portraits: Talking With Artists at the Met, the Modern, the Louvre and Elsewhere' (Random House) that 'new art is always, in some basic way, a commentary on the past'.

8/24/98