Viscous
And vibrant
Pulsating color a mirror
Reflecting the struggle of service
Service to nation and principle
Service to community and country
Layers of paint
Explode like wildfire
Live vivacious shrapnel
Beautiful and resonant
Splatterings
Of red, white, and blue
Explosions of color like karmic chemistry
The sacred fraternity of service
Tortured struggles through trauma
Be that physical or psychic
As a society
We build armies of steel and titanium
Armies of women and men
Armies that subordinate self
To duty and collective purpose’
Layers of paint again
Expressing deep pain—but also pride
Seeking balance
Giving voice to desire for healing
Acrylic, latex, and oil
Interwoven in a web of solidarity
A question is posed
Do our soldiers die for freedom and security?
Or for empire and corporate avarice?
Or some tangled concatenation of all of these?
Layers of paint
Red, white, and blue
Layers of meaning
Seeking a narrative
A prescient interpretation
A totalizing shockwave of analysis
We crave liberation
In a manifold explosion of color
A celebration of solidarity and service
A celebration that conjures the joy of healing
This poem is inspired by Christopher G. Kempton: both his brilliant visual art and his visceral life story.
–BYPO PHOENIX c)2022
