Never Look Away

By Jennifer LeBlanc

Never Look Away
After the film from 2018

A single
purple blossom
placed with such
hope
in
the vase.

Morning work begins
for the East German

artist. He needs an idea.
What is it to paint

with memory and with
demons, shutters closing

on lives ended within
the family ? What is it

to walk away at the end
of the day, the canvas

still empty ? But smudge
the portrait here, an eye

blinks, a finger points,
indicts the man posed

in the passport photo,
propped up like an ominous

god observing the studio.
Shutters open, hinges swing.