Man At The Crossroads

I compare your essence to the strokes in one of Diego Rivera’s murals,
Specifically Man At The Crossroads,
Bold and Daring.
Huge strokes placed strategically to please the eye in the lobby of The Rockefeller Center.
Some long, some short, some cris-crossed strokes on a silent 63-foot-long wall.
Controversial.
Offending some,
Causing a revolution in others.
Diego Rivera was asked to compromise his vision.
To alter his art.
To die down his creative mind.
To silence his opinion.
To remove the strokes and replace them with strokes made from the vision of others.
His passion for his art made no compromise and one day the floor of The Rockefeller lobby
Displayed broken up pieces of these beautiful bold strokes.
They died that day, but the vision remained indestructible and alive in Diego Rivera.
And I can recall walking into the Palacio de Bellas Artes where he recreated those same strokes,
Where he was free of the opinion of others and allowed to release his inner thoughts and passion.
Determined to make his vision come to light.
I stood there, the mural so large my eyes shifting left and right,
Rapidly like a ping pong game,
Attempting to capture every stroke,every color, and every detail.
I stood there feeling like a single insignificant speck in the universe.
My heart bursting with excitement,
I closed my eyes and could feel every stroke,
Every thought, and every passion that went into this piece.
I compare my reaction to your presence to the time when my eyes first met Man At The Crossroads.
I compare your essence to those undying ,
must be seen,
must be expressed,
strokes.
Bold, smooth ,hard strokes,
Passionate, expressive, unique strokes,
Never willing to lose that,
Beautiful and perfect even with its political controversy.
It didn’t matter if I agreed with the piece.
I adored it for what it was.
A vision.
A creation.
I compare your essence to Man At The Crossroads.
But especially to Diego Rivera’s imperishable force to create it,
To his passion for his vision.....