#387 The Banquet

               All honour’s mimic, all wealth alchemy.
               John Donne: The Sun Rising

New pigments populate the palette.
All shades are considered vegan-
friendly, easy to incorporate into
your diet. Even bees are considered
sacred. Not so coffee grown in the
sun. Has been taken out from under

shadow, the natural canopy cut down
to make that so. The driver wealth,
to produce much higher yields, more
money for the grower. No hint of
alchemy, especially that part of it
concerned with prolonging life. No

natural forest so fewer insects &
migratory birds. No falling leaves
to provide compost as they rot so
more fertilizer, more water needed
to produce. Trees used to rise behind
the setting sun. No longer. No honor.

#386 Les Jeunes Amours

Not all European artwork focuses
on Friday night shopping or offers
economic incentives for improving
the supply chain. Certainly it has
been known to promote products
from famous parfumiers, or use
monocled vamps who smoke a
particular brand of cigarettes. Things

not for the young, who are often
gripped by poverty. Though, as
Aristotle said, have learnt the use of
trinkets as metonomy. Throw colored
balls up into an air where they shouldn't
exist. Then bring them down as apples.