Borrowed Blood
Haibun
The artist wandered the Polish wilderness. His art was born from borrowed blood. He followed hunters, men who saw him as an oddity, a specter haunting their trails. In the crisp air of the Eastern Carpathians, he traced the paths of their kills, the blood of deer, boar, and sometimes wolves, guiding him to his canvases. Today, he trailed a pair of hunters, their rough laughter carried on the wind. He moved silently, eyes sharp, until he found the fresh blood trail of their latest quarry. He crouched beside it, dipping his brush into the crimson smears. His canvas, a piece of white linen stretched over a frame, leaned against a tree. With deliberate strokes, the artist painted the scene of the hunt—The blood added a raw, visceral quality to his work, a macabre beauty that ink or paint could never capture. His hands moved with an urgency, a reverence, as if each stroke was a prayer. The forest was his cathedral, and the blood, immortalized in shades of red and brown, was his faith. Completed—he leaves the canvas at the base of the of the tree. The hunters would find it come morning, as they always did, and wonder at the ghost who followed them. They never knew his name.
Murders of crows watch
Satisfied with the outcome
About the Author: Rick Christiansen is a former corporate executive, stand-up comedian, actor and director. His work has been published in many journals, publications and literary anthologies. His first full-length collection, Bone Fragments, was published last Spring by Spartan Press. Walter Bargen, Missouri’s first Poet Laureate, says of Bone Fragments, “Christiansen conducts a brilliant, heartfelt and painful excavation of his life. If readers only read one book of poetry this year it should be Bone Fragments.” Rick’s new collection “Not a Hero” will be available early in Spring 2025. Rick is a member of The Writer’s Place in Kansas City and a member of The St. Louis Writers Guild. He was recently married and lives in Missouri with his wife Kim and near his, soon to be, 11 grandchildren.
Image Credit: Edvard Munch “Blood Waterfall” (1915) Public domain image courtesy of Artvee
As It Ought To Be 