Andy Warhol (The Vancouver Art Gallery, 2004)
by Daniela Elza
an i.con turned around
upside d.own until it does not
make sense.
until symbol is b.led from
the hammer and the sick.le—
they lie flat as if the workers were
in a hurry for their lunch break. and
someone forgot their shoe in the picture.
until camouflage is not in.visible—
evolves into what should be seen
reds and p.inks and yell.ows.
make it something to zero in.
while Michelangelo is reduced to a hand
in the corner of a canvas. Christ
is j.us.t an.other face—
the cross a memory we have misp.laced.
the last supper— flagged in
a 50$ bill. t.rust and freedom
the shapes of photography
the s.hades of pain.ting
until the electric chair has f.illed
a whole room with itself replicating
through the n.eon col.ours of oblivion.
Daniela Elza has released more than 120 poems into the world in more than 40 publications. Most recently her work appeared in Vallum, Matrix, ditch, educational insights, BluePrintReview, One Ghana One Voice, 4 poets (Mother Tongue Publishing, 2009) and is forthcoming in The Trumpeter and The New Orphic Review. Daniela lives with her family in Vancouver and sporadically blogs at Strange Places.
qarrtsiluni 
love the many “s.hades” in this poem. the line about someone forgetting their shoe in the picture is my favorite—as well as:
Michelangelo is reduced to a hand
in the corner of a canvas
gorgeous poem, daniela!!
I agree about the shoe, Arlene!!! Also, that last line is a doozy.
Another poem to return to. Many wonderful lines, Very evocative and well crafted. Nice. Thanks Daniela
Thank you Arlene, Hannah, and Mary,
It is risky to try out new things even though I find it quite rewarding and adventurous.
I kindly thank you for your comments and support.
Without it, the exploration of the white continent of writing could be very lonely.
Thank you also to all of you who emailed me personally. What a treat.
thanks for this one. i keep returning to those lines, especially the ending: “a whole room with itself replicating / through the n.eon col.ours of oblivion.”
and the spaces in the poem + the dots that shift meaning, they work inspiring. i now went and put some exhibit lines together in my blog (http://bit.ly/98X8Ck – warhol image included), maybe there will be an.other poem coming from this.
Thanks for this work, Daniela – I loved the precision of the form and the malleability of the clear meaning it created. The risk with form like this is that it can feel ‘gimmicky’ when the writer doesn’t invest wholly in function/content; you have, so the form amplifies instead of distracting, and becomes a kind of mathematical elegance through which the meaning is made more, not less. Really love it.
Thank you Dorothee,
and JJS,
your thoughts are welcomed signposts to me.