This was a project in which we were asked to create a series of illustrations off of any topic we chose. I decided I wanted to create images that depicted Jeffrey McDaniel's poem Caracas, which is one of my favorite of his works.
I wish slitting the wrist of the clock
would let this moment last forever –
your tongue so deep in my ear
it feels like a paintbrush, coating
the dark, peeling walls inside my head
with a carmine veneer. I was expecting
you to run, when you saw the cartilage
in the closet. I was prepared to chase
after and whisper you have beautiful
footsteps, when the truth is you make
my toes tingle like the capital of Venezuela.
I know loving me isn’t easy – the all-night
helicopter parties, the glow-in-the-dark
haircuts, but when I look at you
it’s like praying with my eyes. I know
it’s stupid to not own a gun yet have
so many triggers, but in some other world
gigantic seashells hold humans
to their ears and listen to the echo
of machines. I apologize for the fossils
growing on the dishes, how the rug is covered
with cocktail umbrellas when you wake up,
but it was raining margaritas, and the stars
came on backwards last night.