\u201cAs you can see here,\u201d
\nOur teacher said,
\nFlashing a pleasant smile and the transparency
\nFrom Kuper\u2019s adaptation of Kafka\u2019s \u201cThe Metamorphosis\u201d,
\n\u201cThis artist also works in scratchboard.
\nIn fact, he does \u2018Spy vs. Spy\u2019
\nIn scratchboard too.\u201d
\n
\nThat hit me,
\nYanked me out of my yawnsome
\nProjector demonstration reverie,
\nLike an apple thrown into the back.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss,\u201d I said,
\nNot bothering to raise my hand for such a disgrace,
\n\u201cPeter Kuper uses spray paint
\nFor \u2018Spy vs. Spy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Can’t let Mr. Kuper
\ngo misrepresented, now.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, he doesn\u2019t,\u201d
\nShe said, turning on me
\nSmile gone.
\n\u201cYou can\u2019t get lines that clean,
\nThat precise
\nWith spray paint.\u201d<\/p>\n
Precision.
\nIt comes down to precision.
\nIt\u2019s the difference between almost and perfect,
\nA misplaced line and exact aesthetics,
\nKuper and Prohias.<\/p>\n
Prohias was precise,
\nBut Kuper is not,
\nWhich is why he uses spray paint.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe \u2018Spies\u2019 you\u2019re thinking of,\u201d
\nI argued,
\n\u201cAren\u2019t Kuper\u2019s.
\nThey\u2019re Antonio Prohias\u2019.
\nAnd they\u2019re not scratchboard
\nEither.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I know my artists,\u201d
\nShe snarled.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the little things like that.
\nNo big deal really,
\nNo worse than an apple in an insect\u2019s shell.<\/p>\n
But it gets infected
\nAnd the flesh,
\nBoth animal and plant,
\nStarts to rot away with one\u2019s reasoning.<\/p>\n
You have to cut the bad apples out
\nLest they poison everything else.<\/p>\n
I had to finish my scratchboard elsewhere,
\nWithout an audience
\n(You can\u2019t have exact movement
\nIf you\u2019re shaking from stage fright)<\/p>\n
I bought my own X-Acto knife that night,
\nThough I could\u2019ve stolen one
\nFrom class that day.
\nI wanted a mint condition blade
\n(Because you need perfect equipment
\nTo make a perfect product).<\/p>\n
I chose my board,
\nMy thigh.
\nIt was broad enough for the work at hand
\nYet hidden, you see,
\nBut could be unveiled when the time came.<\/p>\n
Setting to work,
\nI laid down the first line
\nThen the second
\nThird
\nFourth,
\nConcentrating hard on ignoring the sting
\n(One has to disregard the twinge
\nIf you want to create something properly.)
\nAnd wiping away the overflow
\n(Cause I wasn\u2019t working with ink, like Prohias)
\nKeeping as precise as possible.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t even scream.
\n(Being a man isn\u2019t always about gender.)<\/p>\n
The apple itself.
\nThe shading was the hardest.
\nI had to pick tiny bits of skin off at a time.
\nBut I had enough resolve
\nThat in time I had an apple of such a dark red
\nThat it appeared to be ink
\nPoured into chiseled ivory.<\/p>\n
A fitting tribute to the artists in question.<\/p>\n
I engraved my insect\u2019s back next,
\nFilled it in around that delicious sanguine fruit.
\nThe two halves of his shell
\nKnocked off kilter,
\nThen the six spindle legs splayed in surprise.
\nLastly, the head, still human,
\nShouting out,
\nBecause
\nDespite his appearance,
\nGregor Samsa was still a man
\nAnd men don\u2019t scream.<\/p>\n
Men harvest their apples
\nAnd they reason.<\/p>\n
Upon finishing the last angular strikes around the face,
\nI exhaled in dull euphoria.
\nI had finished making my point,
\nBut my point was not yet made.<\/p>\n
There was still the matter
\nOf proper representation
\nAnd explanation
\nOf the old pro\u2019s precision.<\/p>\n
The next day,
\nI went to art class.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve barely made any progress,\u201d
\nMy teacher said,
\nScowling down at my inked-over scratchboard,
\nMost of the black still unscathed.<\/p>\n
I stood up
\nAnd grasped the hem of my skirt in my clenched fist.
\nI whipped it up quickly
\n(As all good artists do when unveiling their work),
\nUp past the lace on my fishnet stocking.<\/p>\n
The teacher gasped.<\/p>\n
There,
\nScabbed over,
\nWas the stark outline of Gregor Samsa
\nThe giant beetle,
\nRotting away with apple
\nLodged in his back.<\/p>\n
\u201cProhias used ink.<\/p>\n
He would draw two lines
\nAnd fill the space between to make one.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how he made his lines so precise,\u201d
\nI said, smoothing out my skirt.<\/p>\n
The teacher proceeded to make some phone calls,
\nAnd I sat down to etch out my scratchboard,
\nContent to be rid of that rotten apple.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cAs you can see here,\u201d Our teacher said, Flashing a pleasant smile and the transparency From Kuper\u2019s adaptation of Kafka\u2019s \u201cThe Metamorphosis\u201d, \u201cThis artist also works in scratchboard. In fact, he does \u2018Spy vs. Spy\u2019 In scratchboard too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[166],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2600,"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/2600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/djangodurango.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}