285/365 In praise of artists' blood

Erykah Badu, toward the end of Andrew Shapter’s "Before the music dies" said:

"There are three kinds of artists.

The first kind of artist are the ones who hurt to do what they do. It hurts to write. There’s pain involved and there’s experience and there’s ... there’s blood.

The second kind of artist is the kind that imitates the ones in pain.

The third kind of artists are the kind that just do what someone tells them to do."

 

 

 

If I could

  I’d like to be able to talk to you

            you belonging to that first kind of artists that she describes in her interview

      the kind that bleeds

 

If I could talk to you all at once

      if I had this possibility

      I would like to tell you

  that

you are the ones

            the

only

ones

    who are getting out in the open

                  that light that makes us human

                                                                      so deeply human

          out of darkness

          out of chaos

You are producing

                      the very food

          that every soul in the world can feed on

  and will

 

you are doing something wonderful

    that so many people talk about

and

      so very few do

 

You are doing this

          at the price of your own blood

  whichever art you practice

  however big or little your creation is

 

maybe you are doing it out of sheer necessity

              maybe you just couldn’t live any other way

    maybe you do it for the love of the world

          or just for plain fun

 

Regardless …

        the world will feed on it

you are the starting point

                      of a long chain

            a fountain

                which ultimately calms down the world’s thirst for Light

 

 

Well ...

just ...

          ... well ...

  but you may know that already

 

          don’t expect reciprocity

 

oh they will come

        and if they say anything to you

    they will say it was nice

    they might even say it was great and wonderful

    and sometimes they will also say that they were touched oh so deeply

    and moved and that they cried all the depth of their heart

    and that they don’t have words

        and ...

 

but

      don’t expect them to understand

              what it is like to do what you do

and

      don’t expect them to stay here any longer than they need to

ok sure

      maybe once in a blue moon

  this will happen

          sure

      and it will be wonderful

and

      once in a thousand blue moons

            some of them will be so shaken that they will start doing it themselves

                sure

    and this will be wonderful

        ok

 

but on the whole

 

they will come, get fed from what you are doing, and leave

      they will come, get fed, and return to their real life

      they will return to their serious life

            calmed down

                  temporarily satisfied

      having

        taken just what they needed

              to keep going

and maybe later they will come back

    for a little more

        another small dose

    and leave again

 

And so on

 

Most don’t think they could stand the pain

    The pain is not always there

          but the risk of it

                    is

      Most won’t stand such a risk

  And some

      with the best intentions in the world

          will be disturbed that you may feel such pain

 

        and they will try to soothe you

    thinking that it would be best for you if calmed down

          for your own sake

How

            painfully

        ironic

 

Of course

        you know it

    already

 

 

But please

    please

    please

          regardless

          regardless of the misunderstanding

          regardless of the loneliness

          regardless of the recurrent whatsthemeaningofitallness

          regardless of the doubts

          regardless of that void under your feet

I beg you

    do not stop

    keep going

keep bleeding

  keep bringing the light out

  in the open

      out of chaos

      out of darkness

 

for this is the only way the world can survive

 

Done