#NaPoWriMo Day 19: The Ballad Of Lost Art.

It is but a painful truth, known to one and to all,
That an artist in his prime amounts to nothing–
Overlooked, and under-appreciated, made to feel small,
For what could be his worth when the world is blind to his vision?
Letters that once contained warmth, and love, and soul,
Have been replaced by shorthand so blank and hollow;
And patience for art no longer seems to be a virtue to hold–
Why do so, when there’s always a new trend to follow?
What can I, an artist, a poet, do but bitterly lament
A world where colours have been stripped down to grey?
The painted ceilings and pillars and monuments
No longer hold the beauty they did, back in the day.
What a tragedy it is to mourn the loss of centuries of beauty–
One without a soul could never know such pain;
Emotions and yearning immortalized in stone and writing,
Cannot be so easily erased.
And only when we rise above the farce and mockery
That parades around in the name of modern art,
Shall we ever hope to discover the emotions hidden deep;
Until then, join me, won’t you? As we mourn the loss of art.
Here lies the heart and the soul of craftsmanship,
It has been on earth since before me or you,
We’re gathered here today to wish it one final trip
To the sweet hereafter, we bid it adieu.
Somewhere, someday, the art will reincarnate into someone new,
For it is at the very core of what makes life beautiful;
Until then, the essence of art shall remain immortal–
Until then, dear art, I shall mourn you.

~© Shubhangi Srinivasan.

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Today’s prompt via napowrimo.net is to write a ballad inspired by blues. I’m not good at either of those, but I honestly tried. The prompt had a bonus option of talking about tragedies in the family or in our hometown, which frankly, I didn’t wat to write about. I am down with a severe ear infection and I didn’t have the energy to put a poetic spin on things from my personal life. But I do see how most prompts from this year are about art and music, and honestly, I love that for me. It’s the easiest thing for me to write about. I could talk about it forever.

It’s very fitting that napowrimo.net is trying to remind us that now is the time to focus on real art and talent, more than ever, because people often opt for AI slop, which is frankly apalling to even look at. It feels insulting to even think of all the years that we’ve spent honing our skills to get to where we are today, only for it to be disregarded by some soulless regurgitation of a thousand stolen artworks. That’s not what art is about. Every art has a distinct signature to it. I can tell when an artwork has been made by a certain artist, and it’s nothing new. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s what they teach you in art schools, too.

It’s commendable that we’re being asked to look and tap into this artistic side of ours, this NaPoWriMo season, because it’s a reminder of how far we’ve come with our art. Even if we’re just doing it for the love of it, and not for money.

That said, my poem today is pretty straightforward. I don’t think I need to explain it, and it gets the point across. Art is not what it once used to be. And that sucks! If I could bring back elaborate and detailed painted ceilings, I would! But everyone is all about drab and dull minimalism these days. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a certain appeal to it, but why would you live in such a colourless environment when you could add so much beauty to your life? That could never be me!

See you tomorrow with a new poem?

Yours truly,
The Shubhster.

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If you like my poem, please do leave a comment or follow my blog! I write a lot of random but interesting stuff, and I try to keep it real. I’d love it if you went ahead and checked out more of my work, while you’re still here. If you think someone you know would appreciate the things I write, feel free to share my page with them! You can also reach out to me on my Twitter or Instagram handles. I always appreciate seeing new people come up to me and tell me they like what I write! It doesn’t happen as often as I would like for it to, but let’s change that, maybe?
This has been day 19 of 30!
See you tomorrow?
Cheerio! Xx

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~Featured Image by Lukas Meier on Unsplash