Where is her home?
Is this a cave
Of abandonment
By the church?
Who is she really?
Where is her apron?
And her bread oven?
Where is the bed
She slept in
That night?
Who are these children
That later on in the picture
Bruise their shins
On these rocks?
That sleep next to pools of water
and beds of seaweed
Where are the donkeys
In the stable?
Where is Egypt?
Oh Leonardo
what is this all about?
the virgin
of the rocks
sits in a cave by the sea
for Leonardo
she smiles at her child
who doesn’t know her
very well
or even belong
to her
is she his wife
and child
is she
a trick of the light
his model
should be sitting
in an Italian vineyard
with a big family
running all around her
he is not really
in a cave
and she is not real
and is the child
he has painted
a corpse
from his sketchbook?
Obviously
Leonardo
Was a beautiful man
With a beautiful mind
Who had no
Beautiful life
Or beautiful wife
Did he drink
Or womanise
Or was he trained
In the art of gentilism
Too much
To be his real self
On his death bed
He apologised
For not giving the world
More of his paintings
The world is hungry
And is unforgiving
And has a mouth of ice
And teeth like granite
And there is much flesh
Between its teeth
And I am quite certain
He could never
Paint enough
And why bother
Which is what
He could really be saying
To the King
Beside his deathbed
In the virgin of the rocks
The tide
Will be rising soon
And the holy family
Will drown
And so would Leonardo
If he stayed there
Which would take
The lives
Of two of the most important people
To have ever lived
Leonard and Christ
But its his imagination
That paints
The cave
Maye he drifted alone
One day
Along a rocky shoreline
In a crimson gown
And his fair hair
Blown by the wind
And his blue eyes
Smiling
And singing
A beautiful song
He came upon this cave
He didn’t give a fig
About what the pope taught
Or about what Michalangelo said
He found peace
In the castle of a king
And comfort
In a kings arms
As he died
As if his whole life
Had been in turmoil
Dealing with envy
And rivalry
And angry people
And wars
That’s nice
That’s like heaven
For a great artist
Like Leonardo
Paint Leonardo paint
You could even be a saint
A beautiful man with a beautiful mind
Paint Leonardo paint
