Untitled Poem

Art is a conniving mistress
Drawing young minds
Into a complex web –
Promising notoriety
That is rarely realised
Often ending in despair
And depressing pain.

Seek not false prophets
Whose motives are of
Power for self and gain –
But rather turn inward
Where personal strengths
May lie dormant
Awaiting release.

With that release –
If one is so chosen –
Comes an inner satisfaction
Which is the real reward
Of those who live to create –
Forsaking material gain
To justify the name of artist.

July 1994