“This is precisely the time when artists go to work.” — Toni Morrison.
Artists must go to work when it seems all hope is lost,
when the young, old and
everyone in between cannot find the light.
Artists must go to work excavating, searching
like archeologists,
uncovering the glimmers of hope that still glint in the darkness.
Though there may be slivers of kindness,
joy, faith, hope, and love,
it is their job to dig them out of pits of despair.
Artists must go to work once they find those glimmers,
shining and polishing,
until they find the bright side yet again.
Searching for humanity,
friendship, and community
working out those stubborn spots of dark resistance.
Artists must go to work piecing together
the smallest fragments
until our world is whole again.
They slide, flip, and shift each piece of the puzzle,
until we think with our hearts and find compassion again.
Artists must go to work to show us the artifact that is life,
once again whole, glistening, and awe-inspiring,
despite fragments and cracks here and there.
They inspire, frustrate, and force us to question
so that we too, might go to work with them
seeking out the fragments that were once buried, but never lost.
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work.”