masters of fine arts
2008-04-04 10:51 p.m.

april 4

today is the latner county arts festival, and our town's main street is lined with tents. witchy old women in full length skirts hawk their different crafts under the wide and attentive sun.

today i eat a tough pretzel with too little salt, and i see how many different things can become art. i step in the shadows so i don't burn my feet.

there's painting and jewelry making, the classics of the county art festival. but also woodcarving, gourd carving, leather working, hat fashioning, sock darning, hammock weaving. anything can be an art if you have the skills.

no one noticed that i left the house open to predators, the screen door propped open with a brick. no one was home, is how come--no one watched me walk out without shoes or socks. i don't know where the are, they don't know where i am.

i looked back once on my way here and saw the house alone in the weeds, the emptiest thing on this earth. it was abandoned and it was beautiful. i almost felt my heart stop.

i believe i could sell the entire house today at this festival. one big dusty, hateful diorama. the porch, the empty cups on the couch, a pair of my shoes in every corner, a space on the table where a note should be--all these would show the ways in which neglect is an art that only a few can truly master.

if they knew they were respected artists, i'm pretty sure they would come home.