Good Stuff Happens in 1:1 Meetings: Why you need them and how to do them well
On Seeing Soft Portrait
1. On Seeing the Soft Self-Portrait of Salvadore Dali.
How much could I spend
for that face on display?
Propped-up by sticks,
that torn scrap
of leather
could cling to all things,
as if spilt wax
could be worn for a mask.
How could I make
that face mine? --
a slick hide
without blemish,
and puckering, gummy lips
poised beneath a mustache crown.
That Naugahyde
shred must crave
a form to stretch,
and wrap around --
something
to cleave to --
something to give it eyes,
to let it see itself,
naked and whole,
exalted by its own reflection.
I see there’s a lump in its throat,
but what could a mask in a painting
speak without
someone to wear it?