Think of a painting. Any painting. If the painting could come right out and speak to you, what would it say? Write an entire dialogue between you and the painting.
I chose to write a conversation between myself and this painting
I saw a painting in a
museum once
Picasso’s “Old
Guitarist.”
Inside was a man in blue
Head bowed,
Clothes torn,
And bony fingers
poised
On silent guitar strings.
“What’s wrong?” I
asked.
He didn’t move.
“What’s the matter
with you?”
He blinked.
“Are you sad?”
Slowly, very slowly
He raised his sunken,
lifeless eyes.
His skeleton hand
fell limply across guitar strings,
VWONGGGG!
The eerie chord penetrated
the painted canvas.
I covered my ears.
His thin lips twisted
in a sickly grin.
“What do you
want?” I asked.
“To die.” He said
I could tell he had
once been a handsome man
Proud and tall,
With high cheek bones
and a thick head of
hair
Now he was bent.
Now he old.
Now he was
Balding,
And broken,
And sad.
“Is there anything I
can do?” I asked.
Avoiding my eyes
He plucked the guitar
strings
One by one.
“Nothing” He said.
And cradling his
guitar,
turned to face the
wall.
I reached to put my
hand on his shoulder,
But found only smooth
paint
On rough canvas.
Powerless,
I turned away
From the sad, broken
man
And moved to the next
painting.
I'm dying to hear what other paintings inspire people to write. If you like this prompt and decide to write on it, please share! I'd love to see what other people come up with!
Also I could really use some title ideas for this poem. I can't seem to find one that fits.
Also I could really use some title ideas for this poem. I can't seem to find one that fits.
