from "Instructions to Poets and Painters"

by Lawrence Ferlenghetti

"I asked a hundred painters and a hundred poets

how to paint sunlight

on the face of life

Their answers were ambiguous and ingenuous

as if they were all guarding trade secrets

Whereas it seems to me

all you have to do

is conceive of the whole world

and all humanity

as a kind of art work

a site-specific art work

the whole earth and all that's in it

to be painted with light

And the first thing you have to do

is paint out the postmodern painting

And the next thing is to paint yourself

in your true colors

in primary colors

as you see them (without whitewash)

paint yourself as you see yourself

without make-up

without masks

then paint your favorite people an animals

with your brush loaded with light

And be sure to get your perspective right

and don't fake it

because one false line leads to another"