Transformative Abstract - Poem by Robert J. Tiess

One abstract painting seems to vary
any time I stare at it.

Those brushstrokes cannot budge, of course,
but every shape traced soon suggests

some tableau in my frame of mind.
Tonight, I find a crowd appears,

their anthem drumming up a cause
as handmade signs march by and high

in slow processions, calls for change,
demanding answers, justice summoned.

Days before, such dire sights:
a theater of grief and blood,

new congregations, questions, prayers,
old fractured streets turned into church es,

sidewalk altars, vigils, candles,
vital fires now just names

heard mainly during prime time news,
between commercials, shows, and games.

Tomorrow's scene may stay the same
or offer other welcome signs,

consensus lending celebrations,
inspiriting interpretations:

communities of empathy,
bold urban gardens sprung from trust

where wrinkled hands once seeded dirt
with conscientious cultivation

fertilized by histories,
kept memories of futures lost:

the sorrows of missed transformations,
wisdom after vindications,

absolution, strength, and drive
to reshape moments outside time,

transfiguring a shapeless heart
to concrete peace and love's true art.