In Picasso's Studio (Insp. by Gertrude Stein & Alice B. Toklas)

Less modern.
Something painful and beautiful there
and oppressive but imprisoned
Pale and at once bright
Unfinished and probably not finishable.
The queer danger of color;
Of art mixed with sexuality.

Unnatural.
We strive to be at odds with nature.
Do I want to unlearn humanity?
Nature is frightening and society keeps me safe.
Desire drives us to face nature;
It slaps our face for insolence
So some of us are not natural.

More modern; Less natural.
Hi tech/ lo brow, mass produced, cheap and plastic
Socially policed, censored, opaque and oblique
Outrage at the unnatural freedom of others
We are not like this and prefer the company of the
Socially inspired, in your face, offensive and obtuse, the
Intuitive, Intelligent, Individual, Immoral and Ingenious.

More modern; More natural.

God's House

One lone building covered in gold
Surrounded on all sides by ramshackle houses,
Thin streets, and densely crowded markets.
Children crowd around us like water on a sinking ship.
They beg for candy and money. I can't breathe.

We pass out cigarettes to men in exchange for
Half-hearted allegiance, shifty, toothless smiles and derisive mistrust.
Some cheer while others stand far back and glare as they whisper
Purple fingered people stand proud; They march in the streets.
We march in their streets and I wonder how long before we remove the U.I.A.

We remove an unexploded RPG from a family's doorway.
Men stand armed and nervous within earshot on the perimeter
Children play with goats and they treat us to tea.
Shokran Jazeelan. I give thanks and drink.
The sweetest tea I've ever had.