The Burn List
A spoken word, animated and illustrated poem by David Jones, internationally best selling author followed by over 300,000 readers on Instagram.
The Burn List poses questions about the nature of art. Do we create for ourselves or does the need to make sales, build an audience and earn a living influence what we produce? How true to ourselves are we as we try to establish careers as artists? As NFT artists do we create to sell or sell to create? Does art for art's sake really exist, and how much of ourselves do we lose in the process?
The poem reads:
The Burn List
On the burn list today we have -
A poem I wrote when I was missing you, All about you; 15 XTZ, no offers, no memories That I want to hold onto.
On the burn list today we have -
An animated poem about fear of loss And life and death and how in the end They equate to the same empty glass globe full of dust: 20 XTZ, three likes, no offers And every time I look at it I am reminded that Everyone I love is printed on polaroid, no more permanent Than those beams of light that fall on heavy machinery Through barn yard ceilings.
On the burn list today we have -
A poem I wrote when I was sick Into the small hours, churning and wrenching My mind split my chest wide open Guts spilled across the bedsheets battleground Borodino; 30 XTZ, no offers, no tangible recovery Nothing much learned, Will probably happen again.
On the burn list today we have -
A poem about moths, How magical they look under the moon, And how there’s beauty in everything, Even the tiniest flicker of a moth’s lunar wings: 0.5 XTZ, no offers, not even a retweet Some negative remarks on Instagram Might spare this one, for now.
Remember that one I wrote about - I posted all over Twitter you probably didn’t see It meant a lot to me - Art for the sake of - Art for art’s - A - R - T -
On the burn list today we have -
Me. As if everyone I ever was, Will be and am, Are only words, and destroyed Just like that.
Narration is by the author and accompanied by illustration.