ON WALLS
(“graffiti is the writing on the wall”)
Chris Van Wyk, “About Graffiti”
he is a man who writes
on walls
by profession
it is his profession
he would vehemently argue
that he is not a tradesman
but a
real artist
always looking for the right
kind of brickwork, stone
or plaster
the best possible texture
to absorb his genius, uphold
his meaning
add to the themes and concepts
he wishes to explore
his fingers caressing that surface
as if a woman’s skin, if
she had a
very rough skin, even
skin of an alligator
for texture adds but also
detracts, will suggest
possibilities
never entertained before
and so he sets to work, slowly
at first until things begin
to gel, creativity
flows, the wall and he
come to an understanding
he sees how
to capture the right
interplay between what
the viewer immediately sees
and the inner
private vision, leaving
clues, keys
to the code he ultimately
expects you
to share, from hereon
in to bring
to the table
talk of walls and tables
may seem
archetypal
may bring you, even
force you
to consider
things you once heard
may well
have read
before
and here is another, by
disposition different, by outlook
slightly at odds
yet by no
means
anything but complementary
by profession
this soul
writes on
the wall, lays
soul bare
tells truth of the land
tells truth to power
tells the great
prophecy with
absolute conviction
knows that there
is
not just one wall (no
naïveté in his philosophy)
but once that pen of fire
touches
burns
any wall becomes enflamed with
the power
to deliver, the power
to speak
the burning truth in this art
without which
no art, no humanity
no value
no meaning
and yet
it is all
so easy to miss
so easy
to not see
all this writing
on a wall
writing on the wall