Regarding two paintings
I
In pictures by Cranach the Elder
one often sees animals being hunted by hounds
over precipices.
They fall into the river, they break legs
and skulls.
The hounds go on barking
and the huntsmen ruddy-cheeked
fill their bellies
forcing in even more food.
In the background white-hued women are waiting
hunting horns are heard in the air
daggers are kept hidden in folds of clothing
or pointed at hearts.
II
In this painting by Brueghel the Elder
Saul commits suicide
he is surrounded by a forest of lances,
but he is alone with his open breast
into which he now thrusts the blade.
It is dark
the glaze maintains its wall
between us and the one now dying.
It is a matter of urgency for us
that such dreams exist
urgent that between us and what is more onerous
there is a silence of varnish
which says:
do not worry
you are not Saul, you are not the stags
you are not the lance or
the restless horses.
I exist between you
and what is onerous
that is why the art of painting
in this century is still possible.
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