The Bus Driver
(after the painting by George Condo, 2009)

Such anger—yours
so full of scorn

the scream by Munch
now yours

provoked

electrified hair

delivers no soliloquy
on the meaning of life

we would feel so, too,
had we driven for hours
cross town and back
dodging cabs and bicycles

potholes and pigeons

while a sixteen year-old
urinates
in the back of the bus

and you count traffic lights
exploding in the rain
until the end of the line.

Homage to the Square: R-NW IV
(after the painting by Josef Albers, 1966)

Ambiguity in angles
edges
lines
plumb
straight to horizons
imagined and real
where the heart is
or should be
movement
almost a curve
speed standing still
shifting red to rust
the colors of time
aligned evenly
and composed
of parallels
where creation begins
angles and edges
where it ends
the square.

Profile: Neil Ellman