Shooting

I was shot

by you

in the third act of self-

seductive

dereliction, trying to get

the right chemistry:

the alchemy of wet

tone and pigment

to bloom and coalesce

in negative

Trying to get

the singular elements

of my face to explode

at a slower pace

for all of this to look less

destructive

to fit together

more softly

into a new prize

something to hang

up to dry judgement;

each shot

a different size

of empty, dripping

in the crowding dark

and hoping this time

the chemical reaction

was aligned.

Hoping

for kind eyes.

©️Anna Murzyn May 2024

Princess Margaret, The National Gallery (image in the public domain)