Each word, brush stroke, and
movement (physical or musical), 
conveys a maze of emotions, a 
moral or motive, 
                              and 
it does so with intention. Art 
has a purpose, even in the most 
conservative or mundane setting, 
it brightens walls, pumps life 
into the our superficially sterile 
environment, 
                        filling space 
often reserved for mediocrity. Art, 
any art, is a celebration, an occasion, 
a happening or happenstance, 
behind which rests a soul 
                           struggling 
to release frustration and fact.
The premise of art 
                                 is simple, 
though in all its complexity 
lives are lived and memories retold. 
Sometimes the moments are 
hardly even bold, but in 
each nuance there is blood rushing, 
and a voice dying (no, living)
to be heard. 
Art, any art, 
                     is an attempt 
not to dream, and not to believe, 
but to breathe. 
                   Art is a reason for being. 
To uncap your mind, and 
                 open your eyes, 
is to brush away the cobwebs, and 
clear out the channels limiting 
society’s authentic ways. To embrace, 
or accept, 
or even acknowledge effort, 
is to allow a word to exist on 
a weather-beaten page, an abstract 
concept to play out on another plane, 
a sound to survive yet another day, 
                              and a dance to be 
negotiated through an
inevitably cramped space.
Art, any 
art, 
       is communication 
        if not 
confrontation. 
Address your demons, speak up 
for those who choose not to, 
                                 push back 
minds who see investment and value 
as only monetary concerns. 
Increase your worth. Don’t let art 
          become just another choice, 
shape your work 
in the rhythm of a voice.

©2016 j.g. lewis