Still Life, by David Radavich

A Table of Desserts, by Jan Davidsz de Heem (Netherlands). 1640.

Still Life
    
Somehow
one art work
distills all
human form--

the artifacts 
of our desire together
in one oiled portrait
brimming with
solicitous details
of everyday fact.

A congeries of 
plant, mineral, animal
just 
at that equipoise
of viewpoint,

butterfly still
fluttering against the pin
of the zoologist eager
to frame
 the right colours
and textures,

a mind convinced 
of transcendent virtue.

Stillness is
such a tempting
misrepresentation
of empire 
and cruelty.
​
David Radavich

David Radavich's recent poetry collections are America Bound: An Epic for Our Time, Middle-East Mezze, and The Countries We Live In.  His plays have been performed across the U.S., including six Off-Off-Broadway, and in Europe.  He has served as president of the Thomas Wolfe Society, Charlotte Writers' Club, and North Carolina Poetry Society and given performances in such countries as Egypt, Germany, Greece, and Iceland.  www.davidradavich.org.