​Desperate Graffiti, by Donna Davis

Graffiti, Syracuse, NY, photography by Donna Davis (USA) contemporary

​Desperate Graffiti

(on a building slated for demolition, Syracuse, NY)

Your name like ice into my heart
were words from a song
I painted under the steep ledge
of an abandoned meat storage warehouse.
The yellow blocked letters 
ballooned against faded red bricks. 
You may ask why I created this work of art.
Am I a grieving lover, a musician, or lost poet,
who climbed to precarious heights,
rappelling against the wall
with a cord harnessing my waist,
or hanging from a scaffold 
to stencil this desperate graffiti?
Was what I painted the trickle of obsession
that burst through the seams of my skin,
and does it hurt when I recall the reason why?
When you passed it on the highway
before they tore the building down,
you might have guessed its meaning.
High above the wintry stratosphere,
a knife of cold was carving out
the memory of a name.

Donna Davis 

Donna Davis is a former teacher and business owner. She has been published in The Comstock Review, Third Wednesday, Slipstream Review, The Raven’s Perch and many others. Donna has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and has been a contest winner and featured writer over the years. Her complete bio is listed in Poets and Writers. She has a deep love of storytelling, art, and music, and has recently learned to play the violin.