"Crisp" by Vian Borchert
Amy Poague | I trust blue windows in the Art Institute
more than I trust you.
I carry a puppet in my backpack
to retell the story:
the things I like are fine.
I don’t have to decide “anything but the windows”
on the bus to Chicago because you are not the boss of taste or plans.
You are not with me. I know how few windows
come along during a humorless human life
to call a person on a banana phone,
to say I can see you
cresting, borne on many wavelengths. I can hear you
through your seashell seashore mouth You sing a string
threaded through a hole in a coffee can
towards a beloved twin, the coffee can.
You are not invited
to the Art Institute to sing string theory
in Chagall’s dense, unrecoverable blue.
For once, I am not sharing
the fruit I talk through.
After America Windows by Marc Chagall, displayed in the Art Institute of Chicago
I carry a puppet in my backpack
to retell the story:
the things I like are fine.
I don’t have to decide “anything but the windows”
on the bus to Chicago because you are not the boss of taste or plans.
You are not with me. I know how few windows
come along during a humorless human life
to call a person on a banana phone,
to say I can see you
cresting, borne on many wavelengths. I can hear you
through your seashell seashore mouth You sing a string
threaded through a hole in a coffee can
towards a beloved twin, the coffee can.
You are not invited
to the Art Institute to sing string theory
in Chagall’s dense, unrecoverable blue.
For once, I am not sharing
the fruit I talk through.
After America Windows by Marc Chagall, displayed in the Art Institute of Chicago
Amy Poague holds an M.A. in Creative Writing from Eastern Michigan University. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in Guesthouse, Stirring: A Literary Collection, Figure 1, Kissing Dynamite, Rogue Agent, The Indianapolis Review, and others. She can be found at amypoague.wordpress.com.
Vian Borchert is an established artist and poet exhibiting in the US & internationally. Vian is a Notable Alumni from Corcoran GW University. Borchert exhibits in museums and key galleries in major cities like NYC, DC, LA, London. Borchert's art is in embassies and collections worldwide, along with vast coverage in publications. Borchert is an art educator in the Washington DC area. Borchert's artwork can be acquired via "1stDibs" and "Artsy" marketplaces with auctions. Website: www.vianborchert.com
