The Right Answer

 Where do the art and the artist meet?
On the page
Or in the mind
Of the reader,
The listener,
The looker?

What can one do 
When the artist fails to deliver?
When the artist goes down a path
One cannot go?
Do they abandon,
Forget,
Turn away?
Do they simply acknowledge
How flawed people are
And claim that art
Has  no reflection on those who consume or create it?

Can you say
In all honesty
That the artist never
Shows themselves in the words they write,
The paintings they paint,
The music that flows from their heart?
Can you truly believe
That art and artist 
Ever truly separate?

All we know is that art brings us joy,
Joy we couldn't turn from even if we wanted to.
All we want is art that reminds us of ourselves
Without making us confront the parts of us we don't want to see.
All we want is an artist that makes no mistakes.
Is that so much to ask for?