Something like a wall
that we can’t yet navigate.
A living puzzle,
its language too complex to speak.
An intervention or boundary.
When neglected,
becomes an encroaching menace.
A constant crisis,
through the eyes of the Architect.
Its existence, an undulating slapstick.
We flail and collapse,
struggling to see around its corners.
Hedge trimmers are out
and we’re tripping over the cord.
The wisest of us
will surrender in its shadow.
Perry Doane is an artist living in Santa Rosa, California. His work examines the wildland-human interface in Northern California through process-intensive painting process, text, and photography.
His work has been shown at Ditch Projects, Fourteen30, Carl & Sloan, and Rocks Box. He holds an MFA from Portland State University.