Grafitti

There are more shades of grey in life than black and white, especially when it comes to love.

It started out as a blank canvas.

Innocent and ethereal.

Whitewashed and willing.

Primed in the womb of the watchtower.

A future wailing wall.

Sanctified and symmetrical.

Innocent and unstained.

Abstract and agnostic.

A prayer in pigment.

A holy street-temple.

Anointed and affixed with acrylic.

An unfinished work in the making.

Hanging in the balance.

Yet to be determined.

Screaming out for recognition.

Longing for rightful dominion.

A reminiscence of the first rodeo, roped in righteousness.

Shrouded by a curtain of religious expression.

Awaiting unveiling.

Desire trumps divinity.

A flagrant forked-tongue, forged in the foundry of fame.

Drooling like cool, morning dew on a window pane as the sun comes up.

Etched in eternity.

Scribbled and scrawled with sarcastic sins.

Bold and brazen brushstrokes spread with crooked, carnal colors.

Stained with the blood of survival and the will to stand out.

Juxtaposed and juvenescent.

Running.

Nowhere in particular.

Just running.

Like a thief in the night with a sadistic spray-can. 

A shrewd shrine marked with meaning.

A miraculous melodrama hanging in the manse of the Mafia.

A Machiavellian masterpiece in the museum of mankind.

Signed by a Renaissance master.

Laminated with latex and love.

Leaving its mark upon the world forever.

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in the court of carnivores.

Covering my graphic soul with  ...

... grafitti ...

Author's Note

"The great art of life is how to turn the surplus life of the soul into life for the body." - Thoreau

Reviews

[andrew mitchell]

Brilliant Pete just brilliant! This is just sudden impact. Love the wording so condensed, a rich write indeed with intense flavours. This is the classic scenario of its always greener over the other side of the fence, ie in this case your writes are very good in your part of the woods and I need a higher fence!

[Pete]

hey, thanks andrew. i appreciate your thoughts on this. hope all is well in your part of the world!

[andrew mitchell]

not to bad thanks pete, keep well too.

[Pete]

i'll be 'round for a read soon as i can. we just got hit by a bad storm. a nor' easter - heavy rain and strong winds wreaked havoc.

[andrew mitchell]

isn't the weather crazy at the moment, heavy snow in London, snow in Rome and Venice! Its crazy Pete!

[Pete]

we've had up and down temps. was 70 degrees the other day now 40. very strong winds. crazy for sure.

[steppenwolf]

Your diving into the English language and emerging with this poem reminds me of Allen Ginsburg, who I like a lot. The word groupings, similar sounds, the shaping...just overwhelmingly fantastic.

[Pete]

so kind of you. your thoughts are appreciated. thank you so much ... :)

[closed]

Court of carnivores, so much imagery in those words alone. Phenomenal poem!

[Pete]

thank you brixley. appreciate you stopping in ... :)

[tracey]

hi pete, im quite new on site, loved this write , it just flows a great piece il be reading some more!

[Pete]

thanks tracey. your thoughts are felt and appreciated. i will be round for a read. thanks for popping in ... :)

[tracey]

feel free all critiques good or bad are appreciated pete thanks

[Lorry]

From blank canvas to work of art, from thought to creation, your words define art in every form. They expain the inexplicable journey we take, every time our muse calls.
Superb write.

[Pete]

thank you kind sir. glad to spill some paint for ya ...

[Giulia King]

So well written! Where do you find the inspiration?

[Pete]

thank you Giullia. don't really know - it just pours out suddenly and quickly sometimes, never knowing when. life experiences, my heart, what i'm feeling at a given time, faith in the almighty and music that touches me - all contributing. could be anything really ... :)

[Nipplegrinder]

This is really well crafted. Your word choice blends with a cadence that is remarkably smooth. It's evident you posess a vast vocabulary, and appear unafraid to use it.

[Pete]

hey, thanks N.G. appreciate you stopping in to share thoughts and leave your mark ... :)

[wordman]

sometimes it`s beautiful art,someone crying out to be un forgotten

[Pete]

a double header, a tale of two cities. thanks wordman. peace out ... :)

[Alexa Apothic Red]

Whoa!!! What an explosive write!! This is absolutely phenomenal.. I was going to start to copy and paste all my favorite lines and then I realized that it'd be like that annoying person in your class or workgroup who literally highlights the whole stinkin thing!! Ha.. I don't really even know where to begin because this metaphor is so masterfully illustrated and full of the most brilliant driving tempo and executed with vocabulary that leaves me breathless and impressed... ahhhh I think I am so humbled by your talent and in awe of what you've done here to articulate my specific thoughts on the content.. I will have to come back and read this again with a little more study and focus.. amazingly done!!!!

[Pete]

thanks alexa. laughing about that annoying person in class. appreciate you sharing thoughts! :)

[Alexa Apothic Red]

Ha ha, glad you could find some humor in that.. I was selected as part of an elite leadership/mentorship program where I work a year or so ago, and one of my peers was highlighting her notes really noisily dragging her highlighter painfully across her page. She sat next to me. I'd glance over at her while I heard each mind-numbing stroke and observed that every line was highlighted... I'm like, come on! You could at least spare a few non-pertinent words!! Ha ha

[Pete]

Lol at the squeaky, scratchy sound of a highlighter being dragged across a page. i remember those people well when i was in college. i would be like, "what the hell are you doing, highlighting the whole darned book?". they were always buying highlighters and probably high from sniffing them all the time ...

[Alexa Apothic Red]

Bahahahaha so true!!!! This lady at my office suffered from the same affliction, I fear, and my ears as a result, so suffered too :(

[Einstein Noodle]

reminds me of this:
https://youtu.be/vBecM3CQVD8
your poem takes me on the journey ...birth, living and corruption ..very interesting and jumps at me in these lines:
"Innocent and unstained.
Agnostic and abstract." ...yet i am also reminded of the Bible verse:
" .[W]hat may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse" (Rom. 1:19-20)
i think you have done a bang up job of pointing out very key issues that inhibit our relationship with a Living God (my belief) i love the way you say it ... i love the chronology of events and the metaphor of graffiti ... and that great deceiver implicated throughout ... smooth read for me .. revealing and insightful human observations ...incredible painting and thank you for exposing me to some new music ..never heard of Gotye ... pretty cool stuff .. .i could go on and on about this poem ..but i will just say it is a keeper says i ..thoughtful and real ..and i appreciate the use of the language
E.

[Pete]

thank you E. i very much like and appreciate your thoughts on this. your comments remind me that:

"The unconsciousness of man is the consciousness of God."

"It's only by forgetting yourself that you draw near to God."

and

"If Nature is our mother, then God is our father."

all written by Thoreau

the grammy-winning gotye song & video was groundbreaking and so artistic and creative and seemed to fit perfectly. i could go on and on too. thank you and blessings ... :)

[Einstein Noodle]

those quotes have put me on a fine path straight off this morning ...thanks for sharing them

[Pete]

amen. :)