Crumby Art

“Breaking bread with the best of ’em. Crumbs are left under the table for the rest of ’em.” – Sage Francis

This portrait was made entirely with bread crumbs. The person who made it calls herself Pedalstrike. Her work is amazing. You can read her explanation in regard to this Uncle Sage portrait here. Part of that writeup reminded me of a poem I included in my Personal Journals booklet by Bill MacMillan called “The World’s Worst Rapper.” I’ll leave this here and wish Pedalstrike the very best in all future endeavors:

the world’s worst rapper is a devotee of the old school
understands the importance of knowing your roots
is the neighborhood hip-hop historian
he has memorized the soundtracks to krush groove & beat street
owns everything by kurtis blow & grandmaster flash
can trace musical influences like an anthropologist

the world’s worst rapper has stepped up to the verbal plate only once
an ugly incident remembered by no one but himself
now he plays the interested observer when friends flip to freestyling
in a circle of would-be stars, he is the audience everyone plays to

the world’s worst rapper has never been jealous of others
he is always encouraging, supportive, never a negative word
he wishes he could work the words but sits silent instead
fear & failure keeping him closed

dreams deferred become dreams denied

the world’s worst rapper works in a record store to feed his vinyl addiction
keeps up on the latest sounds, can spot a winner a mile away
uses his discount to keep tables turning & mixes fresh
provides the musical steel the local DJs will fire-hammer
into soundtracks for saturday night sessions

the world’s worst rapper has a lot of friends, is well liked
he has never been beaten down or harassed
he has never been kissed

he sits alone at night on the fire escape of his apartment
listens to queen latifah & draws the faces from his day into an old notebook
tito, d.j., mikhaila, the lost & confused tourist
the young woman in his store who picked up the lil’ kim CD

his drawings are masterpiece sketches of ordinary people
done with all the love he feels for them
he sees timeless beauty in everyone
except himself

the world’s worst rapper is an artist who doesn’t know it
so focused on the failed dream of rap stardom
that the talent he does have is overlooked, scratched out
he is the silence between the beats

he may never know just how close he is to wonder
& no song can ever make up for that

…& so
…& so the
…& so the beat
…the beat
…goes on