RED HEART

“When blue sinks almost to black, it echoes a grief that is hardly human. When it rises towards white ... its appeal to men grows weaker and more distant.” – Vassily Kandinsky

Magpie Tales has a Vassily Kandinsky painting for us today: “Red Spot 2”. Kandinsky is now considered to be the founder of abstract art. His work, which was exhibited throughout Europe from 1903 onwards, often caused controversy among the public, the art critics, and his contemporaries. The exuberant colour in most of the canvas and the bright red spot may make for a joyous first impression, which is nevertheless tempered by the black and white menacing upper left corner. Enough to ruin it for me…

Red Heart

My red heart bleeds;

A slow exsanguination,

That robs me gently

Of my life.

My gray eyes fade,

Like the gradual darkening

Of wintry twilight,

Into long night.

My pink flesh pales,

A coldness fast approaching

A flower withering,

Dying, drying.

My warm breath slows,

Each inspiration laboured,

As if it were my last, which it could be,

In a death rattle.

And in my tissues masses of rebel cells,

Still thrive and spread, invading,

Destroying me as they multiply.

The enemy within too strong,

Too treacherous, too well camouflaged,

Too full of life in this dying shell

Of my dwindling carcase.