Les Demoiselles D'avignon Poem by arnie reisman

LES DEMOISELLES D'AVIGNON

As an accident looking for a place to happen
As a comet visible only to dogs
As a dark pupil dilating in victory
Art turns a corner, walks into a wall
Chooses to rise above it or just fall

Knowing more when all is known
Les Demoiselles D'Avignon

As a memory flying back to its nest
As a metaphor coming of age
As a tragedy slipping on a banana peel
Art born again in 1907
Looks down at its feat, sees only heaven

Little critics swear and moan
Les Demoiselles D'Avignon

As a line flexing into a circle
As a light climbing down from a star
As a window becoming a mirror
Art transfigures faces one at a time
Breaths are held, reaction stops on a dime

The hero wakes up alone
Les Demoiselles D'Avignon

As an eave giving birth to an icicle
As a rainbow piercing the sky
As a grenade waiting to explode
Art is not forgiveness - it asks to be
It shocks, it soothes - the human family

Barcelona girls atone
Les Demoiselles D'Avignon


- Arnie Reisman