The Dance
Nov 15, 2021
After brooding over this Matisse painting for a good deal of time in the Smithsonian Gallery in Washington D.C, and while attending an erudite talk in one of the halls, I had this vision!
The stick figures I drew on the margins of my book,
as I sat listening to an intricate argument
on whether Matisse’s Dance was a rejoinder to Picasso,
start squirming as I watch them in the mid day stupor
and imperceptibly, but with manifest intent
start crawling towards the centre of the sheet;
hands searching for each other’s hand
letting go and grabbing until firmly held;
a line first, slowly winding up the sheet
turning left and slowly moving down, closing the circle
the leading figure clasping the last hand,
the circle now closes and the dance begins.
