Jill Greenberg, from the Glass Ceiling series, 2010
Miles Davis On Art
— Lawrence Raab
“The only way to make art,” Miles Davis
said, “is to forget what is unimportant.”
That sounds right, although the opposite
also feels like the truth. Forget
what looks important, hope it shows up.
later to surprise you. I understand
he meant you’ve got to clear
your mind, get rid of everything
that doesn’t matter. But how can you tell?
Maybe the barking of a dog at night.
is exactly what you need
to think about. “Just play within
the range of the idea,”
Charlie Parker said. The poem
that knows too quickly what’s important
will disappoint us. And sometimes
when you talk about art
you mean it, sometimes you’re just
fooling around. but once he had the melody
in place, he could never leave it behind
and go where he wanted, trusting
the beautiful would come to him, as it may
to a man who’s worked hard enough
to be ready for it.
And he was, more often than not.
That was what he knew.
What I’d Like for Christmas, 1970
— Ted Berrigan
Black brothers to get happy
The Puerto Ricans to say hello
The old folks to take it easy &
as it comes
The United States to get straight
Power to butt out
Money to fuck off
Business with honor
Religion
& Art
Love
A home
A typewriter
A GUN.
Oh Yes
— Charles Bukowski
there are worse things than
being alone
but it often takes decades
to realize this
and most often
when you do
it’s too late
and there’s nothing worse
than too late.
