As I turn from the drive to clean off a friend’s wheelchair ramp,

I stop on a bitterly cold, but still morning before dawn,

to see a message left for someone to read,

if only I knew how to read this language.

I almost don’t clean if off

to leave it for my friends to see with the dawn and their coffee.

I snap a photo and text him to say I apologize

for destroying the message of artwork the storm left for them.

He, an artist replies, later

He texts that performance art allows for the destruction of a preexisting piece of art.

So many discoveries about art, life, and neighbors

the world is beautiful, if we only stop to see it.

 

© words and picture by Dan DeMarle 2/28/2020