Snap Judgment Snap! A slap in the face -- No provocation, no warning, Leaving only flushed cheeks for evidence That anything had happened. Just like that -- Only it wasn't my face that was hurt, But my pride. Comfortable in my quick dismissal, I never looked again to reconsider. A work someone thought enough of to display, And I just turned to my friend, laughing About what passes for art nowadays. Same song, different verse; Different crowd, one more look, And someone comments on a detail I hadn't even noticed -- Wouldn't have seen for myself In weeks of searching. There it was, The touch of a master, And I had dismissed it with the eyes of a fool. If the flush to my cheeks was obvious, No one brought it up. So I spoke, an honest reappraisal, Not daring to look another in the eye. I stayed around only as long as necessary Not to appear too anxious to leave And exit quietly with the shards of my complacence, Still reeling from the blow. Kathleen Walsh