What a subtle, sinuous, artful depiction of unrequited love. Our narrator tries to escape through art and travel, but the longing endures. What makes this narrator particularly engaging is the rueful humor that informs their recognition of the absurdity as well as the poignance of their situation. This is a true work of art springing from a pained response to art.

When I read Scott Sickles "Cathedrals (a monologue)", I was reminded of the great 20th Century confessional poetry of Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell and Robert Creeley - a work that wraps itself like a tentacle around the heart and mind - yet, unlike those writers, avoids the abyss. Which is to say that there is the faint grace note of hope within this work. This is a monologue to be read, performed, and kept - to be read again.

To know a heart in its entirety is as impossible as fully understanding a work of art. Motive, desire, interpretation, bias, pain, fear, experience… This lovely monologue is elusive and challenging in the best ways. Look at it sideways, or stand back from it, or ask your friends what it means and tell them they’re wrong.