so now in these times
when the corporations run our lives
and the religions run our after-lives
we are faced with the touch stone
of both factions

art

painting
sculpting
dance

theatre
film
photography­

music
writing
and
poetry
too

art

by any measure
the difference between us
and the chimps in the jungle

but in these times
of corporations and religion
run by soulless men
who have no time for excess
and no time for
thought

where can it
exist?

art is the essence
of human over-flow

now not always fighting for food
now not afraid of the bumps in the night
now not a chimp in the jungle

we are more
and that more slopes off
to form:

art

the poems
the paintings
the plays

are all just excess

but there are important
because without the release
all that pent-up excess
would eventually
explode

killing us or
something
worse

right now
art has been found by
the corporations
and
the religions
and they’ve turned huge profits
for it

but art isn’t about profit
and it isn’t about art

art is about killing those nasty things
that grow up in the cracks of the sidewalk
when you leave it alone for too long

art is about finding the needle in the haystack
art is understanding why we exist at all

but now we live in a time of
corporations
and
religions
run by soulless men seeking
to turn a profit

and as long as we live
in this age
art can
have
no
purpose