Paintings and Sculptures (selections)
The Last Supper
this is more like it
a bunch of men are watching the game
there are twelve of them, cheering, yelling,
sprawled on the couch, the chairs, the floor
and one, front row center, in the lazyboy
(must be his house this rec room is in)
they all have a bottle of beer in one hand
and a chunk of pizza in the other
there's some serious emotion going on here
passionate talk
about what happened and why
what should be happening
and what's gonna happen
all accompanied with nudges and backslapping
(at the end they'll be hugging)
there are differences of opinion
heated exchanges
but their devotion to the game
is never in question
(except for the guy in the corner
the one with the glasses
who brought a book)
(he was going to bring a woman
for god's sake!)
***
Mona
she isn't smiling
she didn't feel like smiling
come on, he coaxed
just a little smile, for me?
he pleaded
a young woman should never be without
a smile,
he chided
a face as beautiful as yours—
he flattered
she gave up, she gave in
she smiled
it felt fake, it felt stupid
but i'm smiling, okay
are you happy now?
he scheduled another sitting
she still wasn't smiling
she didn't feel like smiling
come on, he coaxed again
just a little smile—
to thine own self be true
she refused
he felt threatened
it was a sacrilege
so he righted the wrong
tried to project the curve of her lips
didn't do so well
he scheduled another sitting
what's the big deal
she grinned
this smile could be the face
of any number of thoughts
it's a mystery only to minds
not expecting, unable to consider
anything on a woman but that
vapid shallow simple girlish
smile
he went back to the original
unsmiling
***
Rape of the Sabine Woman
trained to be fast,
he has easily outrun her—
taller, heavier,
he lifts her off the ground—
using the strength of his work-muscled arm
he pins her pelvis against his chest—
his other arm reaches across her shoulders
and stops her from arching away—
her right arm flails for leverage
while her left pulls back, ready,
her fingers gripping tightly
the knife
that will even out the odds
***
Trans-Canada Tailings
in the next room
someone has sculpted Canada
into a huge relief map:
as i walk the length of the room
i notice the teeny-weeny lobster traps,
the CN Tower of course, and the Skydome,
the patchwork prairies, Lake Louise,
the chairlifts at Whistler;
it's large, no doubt about it,
with lots of detail,
and it'd be of no consequence
except that
all along the highway
from coast to coast
winding its way
throughout
the land
this stuff is piled—
higher than the dinky cars
placed at the intersections—
garbage, i guess
but it's glowing
(from one tiny
maple-leaf signpost
to the next)
***
(free downloads of the complete collection at chriswind.net)