growing pains

i haven’t made much lately

my words come slowly

my canvases are blank

whoever said pain creates art

i think they were wrong

or their timing was off

pain is experience

and experience is time

and time and experience come together

to make work

Van Gogh’s most productive year

was when he was being treated

so maybe there’s something to be said

about art and joy

but, my words feel hollow

and the colors just don’t blend the right way

my heartbeat does not flow

with these verses

i’ve learned something this time

though my words feel hollow

and my paintbrushes are dry

i will fight using these

hollow words

until they feel

whole again

• Image Acknowledgement: photo by author
• AI Free Acknowledgement: This is my own work and has not been generated in whole or in part by AI