Art for art’s sake? Some mad Protestant Hell:
give glory to gods too quick dethroned,
the crowds that crowned them discharged early
and now gone home,
their purpose found too soon,
before they grew strong.
Without any message, pure art, placed alone,
not impeded by method or philosophy,
no subconscious symbolist message conveyed;
has any such work ever been shown?
The portrayal of struggle, when experienced second-hand
through books, and paintings, and endless streams
of made-for-television movies,
simulcasts of refugees,
on-the-scene reports
and cameras no longer hidden,
cannot help but pose an inference or two,
even against the observer’s better judgment.
All things serve some purpose.
Those that last, that affect real change in the world?
The few that have a chance of achieving longevity
in a world obsessed with fifteen second sound bytes
find that purpose outside themselves.
No thing that exists for its own self alone
really exists.
It has no beginning.
It has no end.
It has no time.
It has no place.
It must be God.
06 MAY 2004
