Flowers
Flowers given with love last longer.
The first time someone clapped for me
I decided to live the rest of my life in
the cave of its echo. They walked
out of the same entrance I
we dug with our bare hands. 
1art by Pragna Gaddamedi (@prgs.jpeg)
Poetry Tip of the Day!
Inception. Perception. And Reception. Thinking of a thing. Bringing the thing to life. And letting it live and breathe on its own for everyone to see. The artist and the observer are inseparable, and it’s something I’ve struggled with on both sides. I already sit in my room alone with all these words and obsess over them, but the obsession has to be understood. Otherwise, it’s insanity. On the other end, being the observer isn’t easy either. You have to make the effort to understand. To see something for what it is or isn’t and be bold enough to say. Audience is sanity. Cruel at times, but necessary. Who else is going to give the flowers? The stones?
After college and isolated by a pandemic, I lost both. Writing became an argument with myself, and I realized I am not a good audience. I don’t clap. I don’t laugh. I scowl and shake my head…at EVERYTHING. It’s a frustrating head space to be in after writing and learning about writing and performing and learning about performing every single day. And then nothing. Months would go by, and I wouldn’t even get so much as an idea. The issue was the audience that mattered (me) was shutting down the show before it started. Yes, this all ended up being about self-love, but I think it’s especially important when making art. You have to love it enough, or be obsessed enough with something, to allow it to be crazy. It doesn’t always land, but at least it flew.
The picture below is a piece made to show this relationship between artist and observer. It’s one I worked on with a dear friend through the course of a several month-long conversation, and it now lives on my left thigh as a constant reminder. The star (inception), the eyes (perception), and the diamond (reception). Lady Gaga said it best, I live for the applause.
geen-geen
check out the Instagram linked. It’s actually nuts…