Clear and obscure means more than light and dark;
It’s more subtle than these stark opposites –
One cannot exist without its other.
I was once given some fragrant roses
Whose tenuous scent was also heady,
Whose quiet colours were yet effusive,
Whose caressing petals had a partner
Who crept up and cruelly drew my blood.
An entity can only be entire
When united with its vital allies,
Who, like antagonistic siblings,
Cannot abide each other’s company,
Till they understand that – to be as one –
Luminous male Yang needs alter ego
Yin, his tenebrous female counterpart.
Perhaps a painting is an entity
Which, when reconciled with adversaries,
Should combine with these erstwhile opponents
To create an undivided image -
Yet still a jigsaw of contradictions.
It should lie down to be seen in full sight,
And stand erect to be hidden away;
It should be imprecisely well-defined,
And unambiguously diffusive;
Sensuously curved and openly arced,
But within a linear straight-jacket;
With a perspective that’s a verity,
An illusion that hoodwinks nobody.
Contriving, either apart or as one,
To unmask the face of an artifice,
A breathing, inanimate entity,
Aspiring to an equilibrium.