Painting the Natural History Museum
The Perfect Act of Resistance Requires Of You A Response
Painting the Natural History Museum
Rowan and Diana rehearsed for months
practising technique with steadfast concentration.
One day
they travelled to London
and at nightfall made their way to the Museum of Natural History.
In dead of night they grew taller than the building itself
and painted 勇気 on its iconic frontage.
The populace slowly awoke
and set out on their daily scavenge for food.
They looked in awe and puzzlement at the gigantic brushstrokes.
A professor explained that this was the Japanese word ‘yūki’ meaning ‘courage’,
a spirit of facing challenges without fear.
The wealthy were mighty in their anger
at the defacement of this Victorian building, a Cathedral to Nature for one hundred and fifty years.
They ordered the army to clean the walls and the police to search out the culprits;
their breakfasts were spoiled by indigestion.
But God had hidden the two in the crook of his elbow
and they could not be found.
For three days Rowan and Diana feasted on dust motes and laughed with God.
On the fourth night once again they grew taller than giants
and wrote 勇気 (yūki) in pink paint
on the front of the museum of Natural History.
After the third painting the government banned all use of pink paint and set a guard outside the Museum.
But God set the guard to sleep while Rowan and Diana re-painted the calligraphy.
After that, the government sent out the police
To scour the land
To search the houses
To arrest anyone with a spot of pink paint upon them.
After the fifth painting Rowan and Diana stayed by their handiwork,
The army laid down their weapons for good.
The police scattered and mingled with the populace.
The populace lifted Rowan and Diana
and bore them through the streets of London with loud cheering.
They broke into the houses of the wealthy and ate their fill
and slept that night with courage in their hearts.
Diana "yuki - courage"