2025 Barrett Winner
5th Place Furqan Hassan
Blots of ink all over her white dress.
She rests the palette gently.
Her imaginative pattern is a mess.
She empties the cigarette case, squinting her lips.
Left hand high on muscle memory, she grips the lighter.
Sun caressing her spine, she consciously exhales,
To test if the freshly thought hypothesis prevails—
That the denser the smoke, the sadder the heart.
She rapidly loses interest in the result.
Maybe an episode of absurdism struck her.
Maybe a counteracting thought made a flutter.
What difference would it make? What would it do?
With that, her neurons detach from nicotine residue.
She flicks the cigarette, grabs the brush.
To not lose the context, she seems to rush.
Stares at the canvas; hostility she finds.
(sighs)
Puts a fresh canvas on.
The conundrum of unfinished paintings goes on.