Sonnet

Aileene Lee ’28
there is no word for this great tragedy
that clouds our life and death for at its heart
the painting shows a harsh reality
to us remember we will all depart
the center only is a larger splash
it seems the painter left it in neglect
and others pass on by all in a flash
so thus i wish to leave all for respect
and yet this image makes me stop, and think
of all the soldiers at the edges for
i dare not move for fear that i may blink
and cause them to continue their great war
oh woe to those poor people who have died
in that one great collective suicide.

When I first saw the painting “Collective Suicide at the Museum of Modern Art, I noticed that almost no one would look at this painting, despite there being many art connoisseurs who would stop at almost every work — and, to be honest, I could understand why: If you just looked at it for a second, the middle cloud and weird contrast between the background and foreground made it look like any other modern art. Thus, I decided to use only lowercase letters and almost no punctuation to convey the feelings of passing by and an inconspicuous nature, and of indifference, particularly towards the subject, which is the Spanish invasion of Mexico. 
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