— after Giant by Mark Bradford 2007 (torn pasted papers) @Museum of Modern Art
Do not be misled by tiny
broken bones that look
incapable of holding a teacup
from your mother’s old set of
china or a matchstick,
the pretense of privacy,
luminarias, buckets of discarded
wings, a bruised cloud split
open, swollen seed, an altar of
dust, shadow driveways and
chain-link fences, a dump filled
with broken plates, greasy paper
towels, shattered Styrofoam.
Do not be misled by roads with a
stoplight and a chalky white stripe,
an arrow pointing right or left, front
or back, any arrow pointing anywhere,
anyone or anything trying to tell
you how or where or when.
Do not be misled by instructions/the
past/plans. Do not be misled by fear.
Published in The Plague Papers (Poemeleon: A Journal of Poetry)