Art is a poison.

It will slash your heart 

And make it bleed

For strange people you’ve never met.

——

Art is a poison.

It will gouge your eyes

Until they can see nothing

But suffering, heartache,

And longing of souls you share

Nearly nothing in common with.

—–

Art is a poison.

It will lacerate your fists

Until they are left slack, perpetually open

And reaching for weeping shadows

Lost and weary in the dark labyrinth.

—–

Art is a poison.

It will cripple your feet

And solder them to the ground

And you will become an immovable

Mountain that stands erect, proud,

And impervious to the filth, sludge, hatred,

Lust, greed, bigotry, envy, and coldness

Thrown at you by tinker tin men in golden houses.

—–

Art is a poison.

It will close you out from the world.

It will make you lonely.

It will bury you alive.

It will kill you.

—–

Art is a poison.

But there are worse things than dying.

—–

By Stephen Nothum