Last weekend I picked up another batch of poems to transcribe, blog, and preserve. This one made me choose that specific batch. It illustrates Bruce’s sense of humor, his idealized vision of feminine beauty, and more importantly, the principle of contrast that drives his work. Contrast explains the twist endings in his poems, the strong color and dimension in his paintings, and his entire aesthetic of transforming trash into fine art. To him, sameness is boring, and boredom is utterly intolerable. Thus his need to create multiple paintings and poems per day, and no two the same.
The woman in this poem reminds me of the painting that follows it.
Contrast
The woman
—
Made a tower
On top of her head.
—
The man . . .
—
Just looked.
—
She read a book
—
On the philosophy
Of makeup.
—
The man . . . .
—
Read a sports book.
—
The woman
—
Tried twelve
Ways to fix her teeth.
—
The man . . . . .
—
Just chewed gum.
—
All women
Are artists
—
Painting
Great
Pictures
Of
Themselves.
—
All
Men
Are
Bums
—
With
Their
Thumbs
In
Their
Mouth
—————
———
—
Crowning Glory, oil on canvas
Artwork and poetry copyright 2008 Bruce MacGibeny. All rights reserved.
