Tag: artist

The Artist Asks

We pause from inboxes 
And Powerpoints
To hear her ask:
 
   Who are you? 
   Define yourself
   Without your jobs, roles,
   Location, upbringing. 
   Who ARE you?
   And how do you 
   Make your way
   In this world?
 
In this giant Etch-a-Sketch
Called life
No one looks down: 
 
We assume a kind of
Brownian motion,
Never quite able
To float above
Our own ramblings
For long enough
To see better.
 
But if we ARE
Then shouldn’t there be 
A kind of flight path, 
Series of ups, downs,
Sideways movements,
Our self in action
Punctuated by the influence
Of extreme externals?
 
A birth, a death.
A first date, a fifth.
Decades of marriage.
A job offer. A home.
A lack of a home. 
A job lost, a job found,
A child born, a child 
Grown up and moved away.
 
Every decision is a revolution
In the true sense of the word,
A turning, revolving, 
Head-spinning
Change.
 
Each time, 
Time etches into us—
Carves into our bodies 
Its relentless data—
 
Who you are and 
Who you’ll become 
When all the veering around 
is done.
 
 
-      Meredith Alexander Kunz © 2019