The Artist's Tower

The Artist’s Tower In a tower a lonely poet sits Memories of his past life elude his thoughts The stifled scent of burnt paraffin clouds his thoughts There is the light from candles which lit thousands of works Flickering against paintings stored by unknown artists The beauty of an eighteenth century meadow The stark reality of people starving in a depression All tell a story through an unspoken language Reams of paper piled against the wall Stories and poems long forgotten by those who created them Did anyone ever read even one of them? The poet sits, thinks and fantasizes in his own prison Isolation to help him find the right words The candle fades and grey smoke fills the air As the light of the North Star filters through a dirty glass window The poet writes the last word to his newest piece It too ends up on the piles of discarded work Because the piece is finished the poet rests The candle waits for the next artist There is always another artist who will hide in the tower There always will be another story, poem or painting All hidden, unseen in the tower