on his knees on the beach the blind painter
swore by his Italian ancestor to only create
works of art of a titanic scale; giant murals
that would fill cathedrals & arenas & halls

on his knees he found he could not pray for
the sun's light was all he could see; god &
the angels had vanished w/ their heaven;
Christ no better than he who suffered gladly
for the love of sun, sea, sky & darkest night;
he would never see stars again; a small price
for wiping their fleshy faces out of his sight

light & darkness were the only two shifting
poles of his existence & their voices taking
turns speaking; one during the day when art
meant work & deals where she had to guide
his hand where to sign on the contracts; his
eyes useless as turnips in his sunburnt head;
the other voice came at night more frequent
more urgent & consoling & he didn't know
why; she just stayed year after year; season
after season; she stayed; the American gf
whose name he never knew; he called her
whatever name of random word came to him
whenever he needed her to pour paint which
was often; it was easy; there were only two
colors; he'd scream black! & she'd empty a
bucket of black; when he cried yellow! she'd
pour out a full bucket of yellow paint & he'd
begin usually ending up face down in making
paint paint angels on the broad, wide canvas;
when he aspirated paint she'd give him CPR

becoming belligerent & stubborn he refused  
to hire an assistant; he had her; the dealer
arranging to pay her as though she were one
through the gallery; it made his life simpler;
easier to deal w/ the day-to-day of getting out
of bed, washing up, eating when he couldn't
see a thing except white light & black dark;
color becoming a figment of his imagination;
yellow the only color & black the absence of
yellow but alive & vibrant in itself; an endless
hole with no circumference; an ******* w/ no
w/in or w/out that could & would swallow the
world & every sun & world in it great & small

blind as he was he could still think & w/ no
sight to hinder him, his vision was limitless