Natura Morta (Still Life), by Marc Frazier

Natura Morta (Still Life)
 
Why do we want to see objects displayed on tables, 
            flowers arranged to look random?
Van Gogh’s large vase with fifteen (count them) sunflowers, 
            the face of obsession. 
Braque’s monochromatic violin and candlestick 
            stuttering before us, 
Cezanne’s fruit bowl’s double perspective--our urge 
            to catch the apple before it falls.
Chardin’s ray of light upon a dark tableau
            shocking in 1728 to see a live cat lurking, 
as shocking as the spoiled fruits of Caravaggio in 1599 
            or the Dutch painter Claesz’s violin with glass ball 
where he’s reflected painting--self-portrait amid still life.
            Pop art versions of the 1960s:
portrait of Abraham Lincoln, television, a pair 
            of beer bottles, pears, red chairs.
Artists convince us, with symbols deep in meaning or beauty,
            we can stop life, knowing it’s not true.

Marc Frazier

Marc Frazier: "I have been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and two “Best of the Nets.” My four books are available online. I am a recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Award for poetry. My latest poetry book If It Comes To That recently won Silver in the Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Awards contest. I have published in well over a hundred journals. I am an LGBTQ author living near the ocean in Fort Lauderdale and I love taking photographs with my Canon. I love architecture and nature photos."