the factory

the factory

melting mannequins

blues' theories up in smoke

artists paint their last stroke

with a sizzling brush,

the legacy a mere ash

the clutter of creativity

entraps the masters of their craft

burnt to the ground are portraits

and abstracts

and what is left behind

is not,

just conjecture

and a few oils

that survived.

erin-cilberto

12/4/16

Reviews

[tanmay7551]

Conjecture that puzzles and still makes you feel satisfied with what you read... Artists..., they all are but mannequins with a difference of authority. Only difference will be the choice to dance when whistled rather than ordered to...

Thanks, J.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, tanmay.

j.

[Paul Bell]

I wonder if those artists ever realized where their paintings would end up.
I wonder if they realized they would end up dead billionaires.
We all leave footprints in the snow, maybe the great artists just made theirs deeper.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, "dead billionaires" looking down and thinking, "why didn't I make any money when I was alive?"
thank you, Paul.
j.

[Jerome F Knox III pseud..]

Ash opens the door to being a Phoenix.... and what is left? Something that was old and needed to be changed.... another great offering!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Rico...
j.

[andrew mitchell]

I like this. I feel the artists, the poets, the misfits, the writers of the world, the people who don't fit in but are nice really add colour to this world.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for bringing this one back from the dead, andrew.
appreciate your words.
j.

[Lydia Shutter]

"the clutter of creativity"....a line with which I readily identify! We all hope our words will be our legacy. I think yours are, Jacob....your words are worth reading again and again. I can't possibly catch up with all the poetry I missed, but will try to read a few today. Lydi**

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Lydi...it was such a tragedy...all those artists...all that work...gone in an instant.

[ReedWrite]

Such a tragic, senseless loss.
Your words offer some tribute to those lost too soon...to their memory. Nicely done.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, ReedWrite.
j.

[Cory Barrett]

Sad man..
.................

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, and that situation seems to be getting worse the more that is uncovered...thank you, Cory.
read moreyes, and that situation seems to be getting worse the more that is uncovered...thank you, Cory.
j.

[Ted Kniffen]

Too often those who struggle to finance their art are taken advantage of or unwittingly put themselves in bad situations. This tragedy should not have happened, but it did. Good write, j.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Ted.

j.

[WittyWonka]

Terrible, terrible tragedy and loss - life, life's work and that which will never be created. Well written, Jacob.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, it is, Witty...yes it is...

thank you

j.

[barleygirl]

Horrible tragedy in Oakland summed up so well here. It's weird the way I feel as sad about the lost artistry, the lost implements of art, as much as the lost artists. It's too unfathomable to imagine. One artist who lived there a few months got out becuz he recognized how dangerous it was. As he spoke on TV, the survivor's torture was evident. Many other survivors tortured as well. One first responder lost his son. Thanks for penning this beautiful tribute to the art & the artists.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, barleygirl...certainly an awful tragedy for all the lives and art lost.

j.

[Einstein Noodle]

no conjecture at all sir! the "landlord" laughed at complaints by artists and tenants alike .. multiple code violations .. pictures of the "before" remind me so much of the 60's hippie, flop houses .. art seems so trivial when its the artists that burn :{
E.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, it does seem trivial...thank you for your insightful words, E.

j.