Anna Couani #75 whiteness

blanched almonds

poured milk

iris petals took on the colour

of the ivory paper

the colour of condensed milk

but demanded to be white

lines that described them

couldn't render them white enough

background darkness

didn’t make them white

cancelled the effect of the lines

so it had to be

white paint on white

like whitewashing 

white walls

defeating the purpose of

making drawings

with bamboo pen

on khadi paper

it wasn’t meant to be a painting