THE WORK
The Disasters of War
By J. C. Todd
Goya, the master, and these,
the weapons of his piercing
sight: thin plates of copper,
roulette, gouger, hot wax.
Yo lo vi. Y esto también.
Así sucedió.
The stylus, lavis, drypoint,
the burnisher, burin,
chisel, resins of different
consistencies, and acid
baths for burning through.
No art or craft can make
butchery anything but
what it is, not in his age,
not in ours. Picasso,
Kollwitz, Kentridge, Kara
Walker. I saw this. And that too.
This is what occurred.
Francisco Goya, Yo lo vi (I Saw It) Plate 44 from Los desastres de la guerra (The Disasters of War ), 1863. Etching, drypoint and burin, 16 x 23.5 cm. ©Yale University Art Gallery. Courtesy The Arthur Ross Collection
J. C. Todd is the author of Beyond Repair (2021), which was selected for the Able Muse Press Book Award, and The Damages of Morning (Moonstone Press, 2018). She has collaborated with MaryAnn L. Miller on artist books published by Lucia Press, including On Foot/By Hand (2017). Her poems have appeared in Baltimore Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, the Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and other journals. More information at JC-Todd.com.