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the art gallery
🕑 Added 2022-10-21 06:14:07 +0000 UTCAbove is a photo of me sharing some poetry at Brooklyn Poets recently.
Photo credit is due to Jason Koo, the creator of the space!
Below is one of my most shared and beloved poems, which I shared that night...
It's called "the art gallery" and I wrote it around 2016.
~
i once
dated a guy
who told me
when he
checked out women
it was as though
he was in
an art gallery
at the time
i thought the idea
was quite lovely
but now
i realize
that’s all wrong
at least, to me
you see…
you may see me as a work of art
but i’m not
h a n g i n g
on a wall
to be looked at bought
& sought
for someone
else’s
collection?
please
i live in all directions
i am
a living breathing feeling
free-to-be-me
human being
a soul
with a body
& a beating heart
why yes, i am a work of art
& you…
you
only
get to see
one
small
part
i
am not a painting
to be hung
upon a wall
if i could fly
& levitate
why would
i want
to crawl?
i’m moving
too fast
to be held
in just
one place
you
can’t
keep
me
you just don’t have the space
i am
stacks
of stories
& ancient history
that will always be
mostly mystery
to you
this masterpiece
was never yours
it cannot belong to you
it is not
for sale
for i
am to set sail
i am a work of art, forever in motion!
& i can’t be
your cup o’ tea
when i’m deeper
than the ocean
i become worth much more
than diamonds as i age
& as i dance this dance
i need a growing, open stage
no matter how you chase me
i cannot be tamed & caged
i am
a lioness
i will u n l e a s h
my gorgeous
rage
i
am not a painting
to be hung
upon a wall
no, no, no — no structure could contain me at all!
& it’s no wonder
why his ex-girlfriend
turned to him in bed & said
“you just don’t know how to take women seriously”
(i should have known)
we are heart
& soul
& bone, you see
much more than
sex machinery
& how can i
truly
be seen
when you see me
as merely part
of your scenery?
Comments
Strato Man
I have read this poem, three times, and every time I do, I see more nuance. I believe, but if I cannot experience a woman, the way you describe, then I am really not experiencing her at all. What a beautiful exposition, of womanhood.
