"Artists Are Thieves"
Artists are thieves,
walking in a Dream State.
Their knowledge of the neighborhood
is sketchy . . .
Sometimes they enter a house
that belongs to someone else
and feel completely at home.
Other times, they're at home
and they feel like they're
visitors.
Often, they cannot tell
whether they're
creating,
stealing,
elaborating,
re-fashioning,
paying homage,
borrowing,
pioneering. . .
They steal from themselves,
while assuming that it is
someone else's.
After a while,
they cannot tell whose work
is theirs and whose is not.
This Dream State is really
The Big River,
for that is what it feels like to be in it.
It is not tied to a physical plane,
but omnidirectional and translucent.
When ideas get sent out through
The Big River,
Artists can pick them up at their choosing,
it is up to them.
So,
true theft rarely occurs,
more like accidents
than crimes,
that disperse
in The Dream State.
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©2018,
Michael Smolens