.jpg)
artwork: norman j. olson
a visit to the museo del
by Norman J. Olson
I saw an El Greco man
in the museum today, dangling
gangling
arms…
I saw pictures of flying
gods swarming like all the monkeys
of Oz… pictures
of
conquistadors
in gilt frames
on guilty walls… genocidal
nazis, yes, but
for all of that tough sons of bitches,
in gray painted grieves reflecting
specks of
16th Century
light… imagine that light
hopping like a rabbit down mullioned halls,
vaulting
through vast webs
of empty and black painted space…
a woman with a face like a seashell
closed a shutter to keep the evening sun from touching
the wall… imagine…
I heard a voice crying out
in English… too
loud
in
the echoing galleries… cursing…
I hoped it was not my voice…
I hoped it was not my bloody hands
tearing at the gray painted
shackles
of light
and
time…
~ first published in Ascent
Aspirations
