"I am at war with the obvious."
I have seen banality like pink blossomed trees,
toppling graves for Confederate generals,
slave owning families of Tennessee and Mississippi,
the light of the Deep South, its heart of darkness.
I showed a world of colour the Old Masters
never knew, uncovered the cruel majesty of consumables:
cutlery, some kid’s tricycle, a burning barbecue;
gas ovens, greasy garage walls, green bathrooms,
a woman with get-lost eyes wearing a navy dress,
sinewy grandmothers gripping bourbon tumblers on garish porch swings
deranged grandfathers brandishing their 45s in the care home.
I walked into to where colour split the world
and democratized the right to see and be seen.
I resurrected the south’s crumbling plantations, filled
for the tan dog a muddy puddle to lap at,
made of white bottles disparate clouds. I created
a new way to speak plainly that needed no words
Just don’t ask me why I did it. I did it. That's enough.