Middle-Class Art
I admire how empty
your life is
your work as a blur
of leisure bits
while war threatens
your neighbors
you paint a perfect portrait
of the dog
I admire how ugly
your wife is
how you love her
with all your heart
and your children
so promising
how they feel the void
with all their guts
middle-class art
taught in the classroom
where to start
where boredom rules
institutional measures
robbed of every pleasure
the kids feel it in their guts
the meaning’s out there
as the planet slides
into an abyss
and civilization’s threatened
with non-existence
you can’t say
we don’t deserve it
it’s written in every
stroke of your brush