Give Us
Dateci
Dateci I, 1999, MM on Arches, 64x42, Permanent Collection of the Zimmerli Art Museum
Give us something to destroy A corolla, a silent corner, A boon companion, a magistrate A telephone booth. A journalist, a renegade A fan of the opposing team A lamp post, a manhole cover a bench. Give us something to deface: A plaster wall, the Mona Lisa, A mudguard, a tombstone. Give us something to rape: A timid girl, A flower bed, ourselves. Don't despise us: We're heralds, and prophets. Give us something that burns, offends, cuts, smashes, fouls And makes us feel we exist. Give us a club or a Nagant. Give us a syringe or a Suzuki Pity us.
- Primo Levi (1919-1987)