The Art of Pain

It is art,
so perfect and so raw
causing you pain,
drawing you to its truth,
pulling you like a moth to its thorns,
barbed wire perfection
drawing blood
without cutting the skin.

About this poem

Sometimes you see a piece of art that makes no sense on a logical plane, yet fills you with feeling. That, in my mind, is the task or an abstract artist – to make sense on an emotional plane, not a mental one. It’s what I strove for in my own work.

Yesterday I was at the Southern Vermont Art Center in Manchester, and came on one piece that did that for me. It made me uncomfortable. It made me feel pain. It was beautiful. And I could not begin to explain why.

Tom