Guernica

CLICK HERE TO HEAR AUTHOR READ

Life

is the track record 

of the entire universe, 

for instance,

for instance 

for instance,

take anything you can think of 

take Picasso's Guernica 

for instance, now

perform origami 

of the mind 

in reverse

unfold the angles

of that Cubist masterpiece

gesture by gesture 

line by line

lift the layers 

from the canvas

black and white 

until the image is clean

but don't stop there 

go back further

back to the store 

where the house paint 

and canvas were purchased 

and the horse hair brushes

and peel back 

another layer 

to the factory 

where the paints 

and brushes were made

and go back further still 

to the barn, 

to the birth of a horse

go back to an event

in a Basque city

in another time

back to war

air-raid sirens

bombs,

violence

atrocity and mayhem,

anguish and blood,

death 

and tears,

and to an artist

a man

to Picasso 

his youth  

his birth

his parents

his ancestry

his chemistry

his DNA

to molecules 

and atoms

and even to 

the very beginning 

of the universe 

contained

in all of us

it’s a wonder

anyone can sleep.