[syndicate] The Muralist

[Alan Sondheim]

(correction: my stupidity in 'Memory of a Walk' re: 'Pakistani' language:
Punjabi 48%, Sindhi 12%, Siraiki (a Punjabi variant) 10%, Pashtu 8%, Urdu 
(official) 8%, Balochi 3%, Hindko 2%, Brahui 1%, English (official; lingua 
franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries), Burushaski and other 
8%")



The Muralist


The muralist has one good idea, something he repeats over and over again.
The muralist is an expert portraitist, avatartist.
It has been said (of him), He paints the same woman again and again.
It has been said, It is the result of an unhappy love affair.
Of the muralist: His pallet is limited, his technique sure.
Of the name of the woman: Jennifer.
Of her surname: Unknown.
The one good idea of the muralist is transcendent.
It is said (of him), Everything is contained in these portraits.
It is said, As with Being, so with the Portrait of the muralist.
The muralist paints the eyes mysteriously, they follow you.
The muralist uses techniques found in primordial drawings and caves.
No one possesses the woman of the Portrait.
It is said, the woman of the Portrait is Woman, is infinite.
(It is suggested she is a woman of the sheaves.)
(It is suggested she contains others, who contain her.)
The muralist is considered mad, obsessed, compulsive.
It has been said (of him) that his skill comes from bewitchment.
It has been said that Jennifer paints the Portrait over and over again.
Of the muralist: That he is a woman, that he is Jennifer.
Of the muralist: That he has no skill, that he is doomed to repetition.
It has been said: Jennifer is the result of an unhappy love affair.
(It is suggested she is his daughter.)
(It is suggested she is a daughter who died at birth.)
(It is suggested she is the mother of a daughter who died.)
Of the muralist: That he understands women, he understands Jennifer.
Of the Portrait: That Jennifer speaks, that Jennifer speaks through him.
The muralist repeats herself (it is whispered).
She has had one good idea (it is whispered and whispered).
That she paints and paints (the result of an unhappy love affair).
(It is whispered. It is murmured. It is said.)

http://www.alansondheim.org/Portrait.mov