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Black Paintings, Goya, in the Post-truth Age


A poem that deals with politics and pandemic, by Dr Sunil, exclusively for Different Truths.

They are talking of Goya
sitting in the circular study
lined with his works, especially
the one most scary---Saturn Devouring His Son;
 
Why such a terrible vision?
A royal painter, deaf, in solitude,
What made him paint such dark paintings?
 
They munch, drink and hold
forth – art, Spain, politics, and, their
fusion, in an insulated environment, while
the sirens could be heard outside
on this bleak day.
 
Look!
 
The dapper audience looks at the painting,
and, to their horror, finds the dark image coming alive:
Saturn steps out from the faded 1819-1823
era, and, into the traumatic 2021,
eyes bulge and hands stretched out
for the next victim, or,
victims?
 
The horror sinks in.
The painting opens up
A mixed pathway
Connecting –
myth
reality
and
art
in a chilling vision, and,
a revitalised perception
reception
hermeneutics
revitalised figures
in the current setting!

Visual by Different Truths

author avatar
Dr. Sunil Sharma
A humble word-worshipper: catcher of elusive sounds, meanings and images. Published 27 creative and critical books--- joint and solo. A winner of, among others, the Panorama Golden Globe Award-2023, and, Nissim Award for Excellence-2022 for the novel Minotaur. His poems were included in the prestigious UN project: Happiness: The Delight-Tree: An Anthology of Contemporary International Poetry, 2015. Editor of the monthly Setu journal (English):

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