Rudimentary Paragons

“There is still that singular perfection, and it's perfect in part because it seemed, at the time, so clearly to promise more.” ― Michael Cunningham (The Hours)

Rotate - just by a quarter of a half-circle,

Flatten the crises of the tapering corners,

Gently pressing precise forces

Of my sanitized fingers,

Subduing them in the Bristol paper ossification.

(Note to self:

Don’t let your mortal skin breach the neat, leaden margins)

“Now look!

Think!

Judge!”

Head cocked,

Lips pursed,

Inking of a rising disapproval

Swam in the sullen eyes.

“Rotate! Reverse!

Rotate!”

He dabbed the brush in the water-palate.

Sea-green meets Prussian blue.

“Paint her eyes once more!”

Humble, wordless submissions

A muse to his master:

Pardon me,

But I am no Aphrodite’s daughter.

Never mind if you can’t make out

The slender curves beneath the vintage drapes.

My eyes consummate

The smearing pigments, but not as you intended;

They don’t reincarnate the lost city of Memphis.

But justice is done.

Their unearthly gaze

Summarize, suffuse and protrude

 ~~Feminine Contemplation~~

Bold and unabashed,

The cursive letters tilted in accurate bents and angles,

Bid their time

For the gallery cruisers.

“Cut it out!

It’s Impatience’s call.

Sift through! Filter!

Let no rants be in these canvas curtains!

No tradeoffs!

Pride and perfection hand-in-hand,

Always.”

The colored water now dripping

Through disparaged paper molecules,

Wetting the carton cardboard.

Sounds of metal screeches

As the brush-strands siphon the remnants,

Off the circular glass floors of pastel jars.

Tired hands crumple

The skeletons of the drawing sheet,

(The fifty-third and the last one)

Scattering them

In the already littered floor.

Author's Note

Perfection -that one word that is devoured for like no other. Every day, every moment we are strive for it - in varying degrees. But what is perfection? Is it attainable in its wholeness? Or is it an illusion? A black hole that engulfs us in an inescapable self-destructive force?
The poem further explores the thought. It talks about a painter trying to perfect his creation - a painting of a woman caught in an contemplative mood. Does he manage to achieve what he strives for? Find out..

P.S. - I'm sure many of my fellow readers, like me, have a perfection syndrome. I would like your thoughts on this

Reviews

[frivolous treasures]

This was really amazing! I love your take on how each individual's perception of perfection is different. This was quite eloquent and marvelous. This really made me sit back a moment and think: What is pursued more? Perfection or happiness? Is happiness perfection or is perfection, happiness? Does art represent life, or does life represent art?

Marvelous.

[Pratik]

Thanks a million... :) I am so glad you liked it :)

[frivolous treasures]

Your very welcome ^^

[James William Dyer]

I especially liked your descriptions of color and paper

[Becky C Strukamp]

Outstanding! Yes that "Perfect" perfect word tells so much. Loved reading this. Yes perfection haunts me to this day, yet I try to live life outloud instead of behind closed walls.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i think in painting or poetry we all strive for the perfect piece. But i wonder just what that is. Does any one of us really know?

who is the final judge of that. i think perfection is in the striving for it. i think we all want to paint that masterpiece or write the "classic" poem.

But i am not sure we will ever really know what that is. And who are the critics? Do they decide? Most critics are ones who don't write that wonderfully themselves, so they live on deciding what is bad, good or great by others.

i think we can only strive...and hope we feel inside that we have done what we can.

this poem really is wonderfully worded...and surely might inspire those who read it to overachieve.

nice work.
jacob

[SHEEMA HUQ]

I really like this unique, elaborate prose ( very artisitcally crafted incidentally)

[Marie Anzalone]

Some say that perfectionism is the single most insidious form of procrastination. For if we are always in the process of achieving it, we never have to actually be accountable for any of our mistakes. A thing never completed can never be criticized. A smart artist knows when to stop painting. Many frown upon perfectionism. Yet without that striving, we could never have such a thing a bio-safety 4 laboratory. We could never have a Michaelangelo, or the symmetrical beauty of mathematical theorems that define human behavior. We could never appreciate the tree just for being a tree. So, go for it- your style is as carefully incised as a surgeon's scalpel could do. That is perhaps the key- precision versus perfection. One is achievable, the other not. Many cannot tell the difference. Being a scientist myself, precision calls to me. There can be precision in the abstract, too- look at Pollack, whose works reflect perfect mathematical fractals at the moment of completion. Or e e cummings. Sometimes we do not even know what we strive for- just that we will recognize it when we see it.

[Tree]

I'm piggybacking here but I had to because you've made some excellent points. When we see perfection in their our head but can't transform it into the real world, it can paralyze us, force us to ask the question, "What's the point?" But those who plow through that struggle are the ones who Finish, the ones who achieve.

[Marie Anzalone]

You are right, Diego... an imperfect canvas is better than a blank one; and only the blank one will ever be perfect.

[Pratik]

Thanks for the excellent review Marie... The best creations in this world are the result of the incessant quest for perfection... Its like walking on thin ice...You can reach the other end ( elusive as it is ) or at least a self-adjusted/ self-compromised destination... You can also get subsumed... but I would prefer going to sleep knowing I tried my best rather than going gaga over a half-baked result... So i agree with both of you :)

[michael.c.m]

I like this and can identify deeply since I also paint. I have placed perfection aside like an old brush since I realized that it was "desire" that stood in the way of each brushstroke. Now I just focus on the task. With watercolour, however, I find the piece is only safe from me once it's behind glass. Lots of crumpled paper around here, though. Nice write; love the abstract flavour.

[Pratik]

Thank you Michael.... I'm glad you liked it.. Its nice to her that you paint.. Even I used to a few years back. (though nothing great n all)... This was written from my own desire for perfection of my literary work though it comes nothing close to this :)

[Horizon K.]

I like the concept you bring up here... Perfection and the methods used to attain that. Can perfection arise from scrutiny until satisfaction or emerge as a whole perfect thing at conception?

[Pratik]

Thank you .. I think perfection is a state of mind..

[Nobody.]

nicely done.....I enjoyed the shifting point of view.
cheers!

[Pratik]

Thank you :)

[James William Dyer]

I loved it! Just a little wordy in places

[James William Dyer]

some great descriptions in here, really visual.

[Pratik]

Thanks James.... :)

[Ruth]

Whatever the subject, I can always be sure you will deliver the poignancy of it in a unique manner love!
This is excellent, you truly write with a language of your own, a voice that carries!
xox

[Pratik]

Thanks so much dear :)