DEVON BALWIT

Climate Activists Glue Themselves to a da Vinci at the Royal Academy

The problem is your having remained
too quiet, too far removed
from the world. Why
should your environment be climate-controlled
while the rest of us swelter? Why
is your meal, of all others, called
The Last Supper when everyone knows
that, resurrected, you ate more
fish. There you hang and do nothing
but finger-point—up and down
the long table, even heavenward—
when all are implicated. And let’s talk
frames: you and yours tidily boxed,
when life as we know it
is messy. One step to the side,
slaves stood, invisibly,
at the ready. Outside the window,
Jerusalem clamored. There
is a time to be lost in contemplation
and a time to act. How
does it feel to be handled
with such ardency, you
who are more familiar with distance,
the reverent murmur of disciples and docents?

Devon Balwit walks in all weather and has recently taken up life-drawing and cartooning. When not teaching, she copy edits for Asimov Press. Her most recent collection is Spirit Spout (Nixes Mate Books, 2023). For more of her work, visit:  http://pelapdx.wixsite.com/devonbalwitpoet