Crack Art

Cracks in sidewalks can be great art.
A concrete slab is the surface and the substance
Some dirt worked into the cracks,
That’s the what the where the all that’s there.

Mother Nature does the rest,
Turning our work into Her art,
Using tree roots and faulty subgrade compaction,
Lifting one part, undermining another,
Using concrete’s weak deflections
To guide the crack’s directions.

One long crack follows the line
Between firm support and a washed decline.
This crack like a road defining the edge of an upland mesa.
Below, by an inch, many weak cracks run wild off that path,
Yielding odd parcels in spider web traces.

Reminding me of rural Irish land,
Where roads run the rims of valleys.
And winding stone walls divide the land
A concrete map. As if Nature thought of that.

But while the cracks do depict that,
This concrete panel could also be a butcher’s chart
Outlining a skinned slab of beef
The main crack is now the cow’s spine
Irregular lines run from it, each piece defined
Fore rib here, Thick flank to the rear.

Then again, this sidewalk crack can further suggest
Cave man’s art,
A wild bull, rendered with charcoal and stick
But with grace and skilled touch
A sweeping rendition
Revealing our early human condition.

Cave man’s art; an Irish country map; a butcher’s chart
In simple sidewalk cracks you can find great art.