Jackson, come back! (Please critique)

by slurpy

Posted to Poetry on 2002-08-16 05:03:00

A poem about Jackson Pollock

Why, Jackson?
Such a beautifully simple painting
For a tragic complex life
Such a waste of brimming talent
And of the safety of your loving wife
You’re Jackson, that’s all I can say

Alcohol was a problem
And a final solution
At the wheel of a car
At the end of a life-
Your own;

And the end of one that’s just begun
Of a young girl you think you love
Your heads are smashed like cocoanuts
Against a convertible car door
Lord be merciful Jackson
You’re not Jackson anymore

Who knows where he went?
Fleeting like the action painting
His creation; it was like him
Reaching for what is better
Beyond himself
Beyond us all

I thought you should know, dear reader
Jackson heeded the call
Then to deafen his ears with denial and drink
Deafening the insecuring blows
Of the outer noise
Of the outside world
Of life’s demands
Of those you wronged
Of those who told you
That you’re paintings were too blue
And needed a quieted color
To Retaliate without restraint
Was all you could do

He let the sounds pound;
Pound him into madness
Jackson?
Can you hear me?
You couldn’t control
What you didn’t understand
Its life

Always the chaos
But you let it kill you Jackson
You abandoned morality
In a drunken drive moment
And paid with your life
You can’t abandon morality
You can’t escape mortality

Let’s remember the real Jackson
I think of him every day
I ask why
And hope he will answer
Jackson?
Can you hear me?
Are you out there?
Let me know!!!


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