Setting Suns and Rising Stars, by Margaret Ryan

Warhol and Basquiat (detail), Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Setting Suns and Rising Stars
  
after photo of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat sitting in front of Crocodile, 1984 

Like a binary star system they look back at us through time
One tightly wound, a mop of world-weary white hair 
The other’s a joker’s crown, legs akimbo, ready to take on the world 
The gator grins above the tableau as if it knows the score
Kente-cloth teeth and spaceship eyes
Its smile a buzzsaw of energy, a touch of tension
It looks down on this friendship of creative rivalry
Of counterpoint
Of generational jazz
Of whimsical riffing
Between icon and up-and-comer
On one side the EL SOL rises bright
Just beneath, scratched out, but not eradicated, NO SUN
As if words taken back don’t cut
Free-skiing down rib-eyed cliffs
Towards the unknown
Riding creativity’s fickle wave
Complementary soul mates
Purple (the colour of kings) a hybrid as well
There is much in the painting beneath its layers 
The torch being passed, one hand raised as if
A mock battle royale, a generational rumble -- Muy fao vs Hybrid
Dissing with love, a wink, and a nod
To the ultimate shared experiential cliché
Life is short -- and long,
The setting of suns, the rising of stars
A progression of glorious interruptions
 
Margaret Ryan

This poem was inspired by another photo of Warhol and Basquiat, sitting in front of their mutual work, Crocodile. Click here to view.

Margaret Ryan became interested in ekphrastic writing after taking an Ekphrastic Review workshop online and a university-sponsored art appreciation class.  Her flash fiction, “Window View” appeared in the The Ekphrastic Review John Bradley ekphrastic challenge. She lives in Florida where she writes and paints.