All Art Is

'Gainst hurricanoes, thunderbolts,
'Gainst Nature's rack and din,
'Gainst maggot worm perpetual,
How shall art begin?

All art is moment, snapshot,
Vain attempt of sage
To stop the Dionysian coil
On Apollonian page.

Hamlet is always poisoned
By tainted cups and swords,
As Oedipus is blinded
Each time we read the words.
Kareninas in volumes
Go beneath the train
On pages closed in covers
We open yet again.

Monet's hazy haystacks,
Van Gogh's swirling stars,
His schizophrenic portraits,
His mellow plums and pears,
Are cat-scans of the senses
(Whate'er the art world claims),
And hung in cold museums,
In silent, golden frames.