The Poet: #8- Is There a Need For Art?

Here's another of my poems from the last few years... Does the world need art?

Flowers and a sculpture of orange slices in the Newport Art Park, along Avocado Street, near Fashion Island Mall, Newport Beach, California #steveemigphotos

Is there a need for art?

The truth out there

Is plain to see

Yet humans continue

To disagree

Sitting on a rock on a hill 

Enjoying the view

Of the city below 

Where humans do what they do

The good, the heroic 

The evil and mean, 

The city is the place 

Of human fears and dreams

Though we still can't place 

Where cities got their start

I asked out loud

"Is there a need for art?"

Take away Roman columns

Egyptian hieroglyphics, Greek plays, 

Would it matter how humans 

Spend their days?

Take away cave paintings 

Ivory etchings, and architecture grand

Would humans still see 

The guidance of a Creator's hand?

What if the music of a million years 

Had never been heard?

No books, no movies 

No poems spoken, only everyday words

What if every spark of inspiration 

Had just fizzled dead?

Would civilization have happened 

If all the great ideas had been left unsaid?

The answer is obvious 

A definite, "No!"

Without arts of all kinds 

There would be nowhere to go

So despite all the pain 

All the hate, all the war

Perhaps there's a reason 

That we're all here for

Perhaps there's a reason 

Actors act and singers sing

There's a reason novelists and poets 

Are seeking something

It's why designers design 

And movies get made

Why directors direct 

And put on their plays

Perhaps it's all part 

Of a story grand and strong

Playing out over the eons 

A span longer than long

Is there a purpose to Art?  

An enthusiastic "Yes!" I declare

Music, dance, and stories 

Are always found there

This truth came to me 

On a rock on a hill

The grand story of humankind... 

Creativity, drama, and free will

-The White Bear

The Poet: Chapter 9- Coming soon…

Back to Chapter 1 of The Poet