Let the Colors Run

"He used to see poems a little like this-verses, raps, or whatever-from the kids who could no more step back from the fiery elements of their poverty and blackness than some Vietnam combat vets could from the war. Everything was passed through the stark prism of their experiences and they just bled onto the page-sometimes awkwardly and, God knows, far from iambic pentameter-but often with a stunning inventiveness. Not what anyone expected their insightful effusions to take them very far; not, the joke was, until they included sections for poetry writing and personal testimony on the SAT's...

I must admit I'm not pleased with this picture,
Nor the time it's taking for this painting to configure.
But a true artist must possess patience.
Developing new ideas for his latest creations
Yes, red, yellow, and orange will do,
But there's something still missing to create the perfect view.
Always looking at the same hue is really no fun,
Maybe I'll just let the colors run.
This is, indeed, a great idea:
This mixture will be named the picture of the year.
With colors I won't conform, to prove my expertise
My God, have I created a masterpiece?"

Ron Suskind, A Hope in the Unseen, p. 300