The Death of Socrates
they rejected the sentence that he proposed—
honourable maintenance at public expense
(he figured he was at least as valuable
as the jock who won the chariot race
at the Olympics)
—and decided again, on death
so he sits, the same, in that stone cell
reaching for the hemlock,
still speaking out,
arm upraised—
surrounded not by that group of hysterical men
weeping and wailing, flailing about
but by everyone ever charged
with neglecting the gods of the state—
Pope Joan and Joan of Arc
Galileo and Darwin
Thoreau and Russell and all the men
who would not be soldiers
Katya Komisaruk and the Greenham women
the Temagami defenders and various Greenpeacers
or corrupting the morals of the young—
Goody Glover, Oscar Wilde
Rosa Parks, Margaret Sanger
Nikki Craft, Morgentaler
even as a mural, covering all four walls
there is not enough room
for those who question, examine, expose
for the good of the people who arrest them,
imprison them,
kill them—
no wonder, this time,
it's his middle finger
that's jabbing the air
***
The Creation of Adam
God was giving him something
look at the way his hand is,
fingers folding around nothing
it must've gotten painted over
so what was it
a Big Mac? a Mars bar?
no, this is the creation of the first man
I know, a Molson Golden!
no, look at the extension —
it had to have been ...
a gun?
***
The Thinker
strong, solid
chin on hand
right elbow on thigh
left arm across knee
leaning forward
breasts filling in the spaces
betweenthe lines
***
War Monument
the quintessential soldier
very male
very eighteen
showing in his stance
he's proud to kill
and unaffected by pain
he's wearing a helmet
baggy multipocketed pants and jacket
thick-soled army boots
backpack, gas mask, canteen
and a gun—
but instead of the Rambo
ribbon of bullets
slung diagonal across his chest
there's a Miss America banner
"GO
LEMMINGS
GO!"
***
(free downloads of complete collection at chriswind.net)
YOU ARE READING
Paintings and Sculptures (selections)
PoetryEach poem in this collection describes a painting or a sculpture: some, a re-vision of a classic; others, an original work not yet realized. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Dali, Botticelli, Monet, Rodin are among the artists whose work is re-imag...
