I recently received an extraordinary poem, “Art Does (Not) Matter,” created by Natalie Dhus, a rising senior at University City High School, San Diego. If you read the poem from top to bottom, you absorb one message, but if you then read it bottom to top, you discover the opposite message.
| Art Does (Not) Matter | ||
| by Natalie Dhus, University City High School | ||
| 1 | 26 | Art doesn’t matter |
| 2 | 25 | but go ahead, try to convince me that |
| 3 | 24 | there’s beauty in everything |
| 4 | 23 | I know that’s not true |
| 5 | 22 | art is a veil, a mask used to cover the unappealing |
| 6 | 21 | you can try to tell me that |
| 7 | 20 | there’s lasting elegance in the simplest things |
| 8 | 19 | it’s common knowledge that |
| 9 | 18 | beauty is a façade, a mere illusion, because |
| 10 | 17 | only a fool would say that |
| 11 | 16 | creativity matters, |
| 12 | 15 | that’s why |
| 13 | 14 | many still believe |
| 14 | 13 | that nothing can be beautiful once its colors have become dreary, |
| 15 | 12 | that no matter how magnificent it once was, even art loses its vivacious charm, |
| 16 | 11 | some still believe |
| 17 | 10 | despite the fact that |
| 18 | 9 | art brings life to a situation, |
| 19 | 8 | we’re better off with the opposite |
| 20 | 7 | many believe that |
| 21 | 6 | it benefits no one, which is why |
| 22 | 5 | drab and monotonous lifestyle reigns supreme, but |
| 23 | 4 | everyone knows |
| 24 | 3 | creativity is useless, |
| 25 | 2 | only a fool would say that |
| 26 | 1 | art matters |