Red Rose © Eman Zahid

 

Erroneous Bicycle

There is a strikingly large bicycle
in my small,
modest bedroom. Flowers spill out;
its basket blue, white, pink
on stretched canvas. The muted pastels
of this painting have a calming effect
on me. I found the painting
at a secondhand shop and bought it
to cover up
a mismatched paint splotch,
on the bare wall it hangs directly in front of my bed.
I have found myself staring at it every night.
At first glance, it is an impeccable bicycle painting.
At first stare, there is something off.

I have determined the handlebars,
mostly hidden by the flower basket,
could never actually properly reach
the head tube of the bicycle frame. Within
the imagined plane of the bicycle’s universe,
the two objects exist spatially on entirely different
latitudinal and longitudinal levels. Further damning,
there is a sharp 90-degree angle on the left handle
while the right handle barely curves at all.

The front tire is not perfectly round, and the spokes are not straight.

Even the overspilling flowers are too large,
have too many petals
to be a real species.

I look in the mirror. I see the same thing:
imaginary lines that do not connect, parts existing
          on different axes. A bent frame.
Flowers with too many petals. There is either not enough
          or too much space between my pieces.
There is inconsistency in my parts. I return to the painting
with reproach. How does it have the guts to exist so imperfectly on my
          wall?

I do not want to be on anyone’s wall.
How can this painting be so bold, so large,
take up so much space, while being faulty?
I do not want anyone to stare at me, night after night.
“How do you find the courage, the unmitigated nerve
to endure while flawed?”
Haphazard lines. Disproportioned frame. Soothing colors.
A continuous and unapologetic state of being.
Tell me, what’s the secret?

 

Jenna Brown is an artist, designer, and writer based in Portland, Oregon. She enjoys writing to clear her mind. Her favorite place to write is sitting on a thrift store blanket, while overlooking the ocean.

Eman Zahid: “I love writing English Poetry. I have published my poetry in 3 books, exploring different things and doing something interesting in my hobby. I believe in hard work and being dedicated.”