Making Art

Nervous as a skunk
this art-making
takes a lot of nose-first
digging, scrounging garbage
cans turned on their side
clattering in a dirty breeze,
rattling like death caught
in your throat – you crawl
inside, sniff and snoop
until something clings to you –
you grasp at it, try to make it
yours – anything you might use
to coerce an audience,
anything to make trash
seem sweet enough to color
your cagey stripes.