Art

Art for me has always been a failure thing.

Exhibit: third grade tears in class over the imperfect star
To top my construction paper Christmas tree.

Exhibit: my only B in high school—
Drawing and painting 101.

I love art. I just don’t do art.

So when the opportunity came to create a collage,
I hardly expected anything to emerge that brought joy.

But as I looked through the collection of images,
I realized I am old enough and know enough to know what I like.

Hokusai’s Mt. Fuji print.
A candy pink feather.
Audubon’s bird painting.
(Even better: a blue bird, though not a bluebird.)
Anything iridescent.
Gold pens.
Fruit.

If I take things I like, and combine them,
It makes sense that I will like the end result.

And I did!