Digital Rabbit Hole

The Day My Grandson Met Dalí

Standing in front of The Discovery of America
by Cristopher Columbus,
he was introduced to the artist
for the first time
in his 15 years.
Life had led him to many new things,
sports, music and now a year in the United States,
but until today, Dali had yet a name although
this painting (a print) hung in the guest room
where he and his mother
slept in my house, when they came to visit.

Of course he already knew about Art,
he grew up surrounded by it.
His mother draped the walls of their house
in her collection and topping it off,
his older brother was an artist.

But today standing in an Art museum
contemplating it full-size,
he was almost overwhelmed with its beauty.
He felt like he had crawled inside,
now part of the imagery,
like wearing a virtual headset
he felt it as it were in 3D
and he sent a text to his mother
back home, “Mom, look 
that painting I saw hanging on the wall,
at Abba’s, is just a smaller version
and it was painted by an artist
named Salvador Dalí. “

Ah how my grandson reminds me of me…
when I was first introduced to the man
who once proclaimed,
” I am Surrealism”
When I discovered him in a book
of colored plates, each painting… a surprise,
a jolt to the visual, all unfamiliarly beautiful.
It shocked my grasp of reality
and I was left almost dizzy with delight.

I smiled inside, 
across the Atlantic Ocean,
so far away;
It did seem like the perfect day
for my grandson to be standing in a museum of art,
enthralled, in true awe,
meeting the artist for the first time,
known as Dalí.

Karima Hoisan
October 27, 2024
Costa Rica

The Dalí Museum
St. Petersburg, Florida