Poets logo

Heal Thyself

And Other Tales of Failed Bootstrapping

By Paige GraffunderPublished 2 years ago 1 min read
Like
Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

Art Therapy has always perplexed me.

Why would you prescribe a thing,

That murders all who are great at it?

The point of art is not to heal.

It is to turn the terminal cancer racing through you

Into Michelangelo's David.

The blood from your mortal wound,

Into the paint of the Mona Lisa.

The tears you can't ever stop,

Into the ink of Medea.

To be an artist is not to heal thyself.

That is the realm of physicians.

To be an artist is not to recover.

That is the passtime of addicts.

To be an artist is to turn the gun,

To fully automatic,

Emptying magazine after magazine,

Into your own,

Twisted,

Guts.

To then root around in the mess it left,

Coughing and choking out your agony.

Using blood slick fingers,

Intensifying your own suffering.

Pulling out bullet, after bullet.

Individually,

one by one.

Hammering their spent death

Into something,

That one day,

A lonely girl will see in a museum.

That some sad boy will find in a $1 box at a yard sale.

That your own child will find in the wreckage you left behind.

It will halt them

Speak to them.

Whisper to them what they needed to hear.

Yearned to hear.

It will consume them,

For a moment,

For an hour,

For a lifetime.

It will heal them.

To be an artist is not to heal yourself.

It is to destroy,

Everything you are.

So that,

Maybe,

One day,

You can heal another.

sad poetry
Like

About the Creator

Paige Graffunder

Paige is a published author and a cannabis industry professional in Seattle. She is also a contributor to several local publications around the city, focused on interpersonal interactions, poetry, and social commentary.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments (1)

Sign in to comment
  • Kelli Kennedy2 years ago

    I disagree, but love your poem.

Find us on social media

Miscellaneous links

  • Explore
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Support

© 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.