When we went up
I am ten years old
I am in New York City for the first time
I'm BIG! New York is: TRANSFORMATIVE
I am visiting the Guggenheim Museum
I want to see what art is
On the ramp to the museum's front doors
A street performer cackles
Sharp attrition slicing my air
He's a gory, callous clown
His face is twisted into a grotesque grin
He offers me a twisted balloon
I unpolitely decline because
I'm on my way to look at: ART
I don't have time for a childhood now
I'm BIG! Show me the ART.
Frank Lloyd reveals his curves to me as
I burst through the main entrance
Even as a small person
I know this is something special
The rounds of the views curve themselves to me
A fish-eyed photo for a wide-eyed girl
Story leading to story
Dad says, "It's art."
The sign says, "Modern Art".
The exhibit is interactive
and very, very contemporary
The piece is "Public Candy"
It consists of
10,000 pieces of licorice candy
Individually wrapped
Strewn upon the floor in a corner
The art is:
You walk up to it and eat one
Or throw one
Or move one to a different part of the wall
It's transformative.
I think art is:
the balloon that I beg to buy
With the money I've saved all summer
Art is the way the gift shop lady handed it to me
Art is the way I walked outside to admire my balloon
And let go of it, on accident
And watched it float very slowly up to join the World Trade Center towers, glowing with permanence
I am in New York City for the first time
I'm BIG! New York is: TRANSFORMATIVE
I am visiting the Guggenheim Museum
I want to see what art is
On the ramp to the museum's front doors
A street performer cackles
Sharp attrition slicing my air
He's a gory, callous clown
His face is twisted into a grotesque grin
He offers me a twisted balloon
I unpolitely decline because
I'm on my way to look at: ART
I don't have time for a childhood now
I'm BIG! Show me the ART.
Frank Lloyd reveals his curves to me as
I burst through the main entrance
Even as a small person
I know this is something special
The rounds of the views curve themselves to me
A fish-eyed photo for a wide-eyed girl
Story leading to story
Dad says, "It's art."
The sign says, "Modern Art".
The exhibit is interactive
and very, very contemporary
The piece is "Public Candy"
It consists of
10,000 pieces of licorice candy
Individually wrapped
Strewn upon the floor in a corner
The art is:
You walk up to it and eat one
Or throw one
Or move one to a different part of the wall
It's transformative.
I think art is:
the balloon that I beg to buy
With the money I've saved all summer
Art is the way the gift shop lady handed it to me
Art is the way I walked outside to admire my balloon
And let go of it, on accident
And watched it float very slowly up to join the World Trade Center towers, glowing with permanence