Rule of Thirds

I will never be the center of the picture

I have always been off to the side and

I never really knew what that meant

You told me it was better this way

You say it guides the eye but I don’t know where I am

You told me that I should be more

That I should do more

That I should work harder and

I am begging you to understand that

I will always strive to be the perfect model

Adhering to all your exact demands

Stand angled for the picture

Wait patiently on your mark

Look forward as if you are looking at the most incredible painting

I don’t know what I’m looking at

You won’t tell me

I guess it’s okay as long as you choose me

I will settle for third place as long as I’m on the podium

I will exist in your photos as long as I am seen, and

I will stay lost as long as you are happy

I will never be the center of the picture

I will accept that neither of us know what I’m looking at, and

I will exist in your rules because I do not have the authority to break them

So I ask you to teach me

I am not the poster child of an artist

But you could put me on the poster

You could do my makeup

Dress me up

And tell me where to stand

And possibly

I could look like her

I may not make anything special but

I could be your project

I watch you work restlessly

Tearing yourself apart over the things that we have done wrong

And celebrating all of your success

For years I have ogled over your work

But this time I also see my efforts

My efforts as your poem

As your bouquet, your painting, your song, your pyramid

And I know

I don’t understand the rule of thirds

But have I not had a part in all of your creations?

Have I not been your muse?

You tell me I don’t know what we are making

And I will combat that with, why?

Whose fault is that?