Middle-Class Art

 Middle-Class Art

I admire how empty 

your life is 

your work as a blur 

of leisure bits 

while war threatens 

your neighbors 

you paint a perfect portrait 

of the dog 

I admire how ugly 

your wife is 

how you love her 

with all your heart 

and your children 

so promising 

how they feel the void

with all their guts 

middle-class art 

taught in the classroom

where to start

where boredom rules 

institutional measures 

robbed of every pleasure 

the kids feel it in their guts 

the meaning’s out there

as the planet slides 

into an abyss 

and civilization’s threatened 

with non-existence 

you can’t say 

we don’t deserve it 

it’s written in every 

stroke of your brush