The Paddock Review

Artist Statement

  after Hiroshima by Janet Sobel, 1948

…..

Every artist destroys

one thing to create another.

…..

You destroyed a pristine canvas 

to re-create the destruction

…..

someone believed was needed 

to restore peace to the world.

…..

And though your painting 

does not reflect like a mirror,

…..

the face that stares back at me

through irradiated hues

…..

of yellows, reds, and blues, 

transforms and fuses

…..

into my own face, a creator’s 

face and the face of a destroyer.

…..

In the end, every work of 

art is its own little Hiroshima.

……

This poem is from the chapbook Little Hiroshimas, and is available at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/little-hiroshimas-by-kip-knott/ .

Kip Knott is a writer, teacher, photographer, and part-time art dealer living in Delaware, Ohio. His writing and photography have appeared in Barren, Beloit Fiction Journal, Emrys Journal, The Gettysburg Review, Poet Lore, The Sun, and Virginia Quarterly Review. He is the author seven previous poetry chapbooks, a full-length collection of short stories, and three full-length collections of poetry, the most recent being The Other Side of Who I Am (Kelsay Books, 2023). To read more of his work, go to http://www.kipknott.com.

Kip Knott