The only paintings
I’ve ever purchased
are paintings painted
by my painter friend.
Aqua Convergence
wasn’t the first or the last piece
of his I bought, but it sits
most prominently
in my consciousness.
I see it every day
and almost every day
I will linger in front of it
and admire its
underwater beauty.
His crazy world and mine
seem to collide; his art,
my words and songs I’ve sung
swirl around each other
in some great and goofy dance.
Is this a fish or a submarine
or an underwater rocket?
That silly question inspired
in me a novella and a kind
of rock opera
for which an album was
recorded, this image
of the fish-sub-rocket
gracing its cover
twenty years ago now.
My best friends
in the world are people
who make art that inspires
my art, a feedback loop
that sustains me,
that gives me hope,
that fills me with gratitude
even now in the middle
of this mess, in the dark
vicissitudes of this crazy world.
michael jarmer 