Wednesday 31 January 2024

Christopher Woods: Leaving a Kiss

A woman who says she was so overcome with passion for a valuable painting on display in France has been charged with criminal damage after kissing it. - BBC NEWS

what will become you, of me?
something as brief as a kiss
has united us. Conspirators.
there are rules about me -
lines and brushstrokes
colour, canvas, vision.
but the only lines I think
about are the canvas edges,
the space between me and
those who come to see,
worship or dismiss, world of voyeurs.
you brought me passion,
something I have never known.
out of all those in the museum,
you alone stepped forward.

you will suffer consequences
for crossing another line,
for making me almost human.


Christopher Woods is a writer and photographer who lives in Chappell Hill, Texas. His poetry collection, Maybe Birds Would Carry It Away, is forthcoming from Kelsay Books. His photographs can be seen in his galleries: https://christopherwoods.zenfolio.com/f861509283