THE ART OF SEEING VALUE

by Lylanne Musselman

Image source: HuffPost Detroit

I went to see Vincent

van Gogh’s painting

on loan from Paris,

Bedroom in Arles,

in Detroit, a place

so bankrupt, city

officials are looking in-

to assets the Detroit Institute

of Arts owns. Yes,

Michigan politicians

and many citizens

could prostitute

irreplaceable art. It exhibits

how some would

sell their souls, aid

the American idea

money saves

at all costs. In Detroit,

citizens comment:

Sell the DIA and open

a money making business

like a casino; Art is

just a perception, it might

evoke emotion for people

or nothing; If Detroit goes

bankrupt the museum collection

could be seized…

I stood less

than a foot away

from the painting

van Gogh brushed

life into. The awe of it all,

knowing he painted this

bedroom scene to show

his brother, Theo,

how tranquil Arles was,

to see his perspective,

his ever-present blues.

Lylanne Musselman lives in Toledo, Ohio. Her poems have appeared in Brevity Poetry Review, Literary Brushstrokes, The Rusty Nail, Pank, Tipton Poetry Journal, New Verse News, among others, and many literary anthologies. Lylanne has authored three chapbooks: Prickly Beer & Purple Panties (Bacon Tree Press, 2007), A Charm Bracelet for Cruising (Winged City Press, 2009) and Winged Graffiti (Finishing Line Press, 2011), and is a co-author of the recently published book, Company of Women: New and Selected Poems (Chatter House Press, 2013).

HOLY WEEK 2013

by James M. Croteau

Making dinner
with my lover
while NPR covers
gay marriage hearings
in the Supreme Court,
Inconceivable
in my boyhood
when nothing
was covered, or
everything
was covered, hearing
confined to mother’s words
warning of dirty
old men after little boys
in filthy public restrooms.
There will be no Easter
miracle, I’m sure,
I’ll not live to see
marriage in Michigan
where we cut our vegetables,
but simply standing
here with him,
this simple meal we make
is empty tomb enough
for that gay boy in me.

James M. Croteau lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan with his partner of 28 years, Darryl, and their two Labrador retrievers. Jim grew up gay and Catholic in the southern United States. He recently had his first poem accepted for publication in Hoot: a Postcard review of {mini} poetry and prose.