NaPoWriMo 2025 (part I)

Yes, I know it's already the 14th, but I didn't think about posting my poems here until now. Oops. I'll do a few posts to spread them out though.

Mezzotint

The soft screech of metal on metal

Echoes of the noises in my mind

I smooth away the imperfections

Burnishing the jagged lines

Ink seeps in the crevices

The stark relief of black on bronze

The fibres of the parchment sheet

Capture every varied tone

The rhythm and the repetition

Brush and ink and rags and tint

I smooth away my imperfections

And etch my heart in every print

Social Transactions

O, self creators

Mistresses of makery

Masters of testosterone

And artists of non-binary

Strip away your carapace

Reveal your inner glory

Sculpting flesh and bone

To your gender ideology

Our future is in stasis

For the progress of society

Is slow as metamorphosis

But just as worth the journey

So raise your hands and hearts

Find and forge a family

Live the truth within yourself

Transition to your beauty

Why am I an artist?

I am not an artist because I create art

Just as I am not a sleeper because I sleep

And I am not a worker because I work

I ask the sparrow if he is a singer

    because he sings

And he says, "No

    I sing because I am a bird"

I ask the flounder if she is a swimmer

    because she swims

And she says, "No,   

    I swim because I am a fish"

I ask the gazelle if she is a runner

    because she runs

and she says, "No,

    I run because I am a gazelle"

So I am not an artist

    because I create art

I create art because

I am

    Alive