#404 La Belle Promenade

Never one
of my strong
suits, eloquence. Think
of a fence. Either bricks
or blocks, laid
square, or wooden
palings, up & down.
Nailed. Cemented.
Everything in its
pre-planned place. Not
like that for me. I look
for stones, with shapes
that match & inter-
act when placed
contiguous or even
at a distance from.
Something to run
your hand across & feel
irregularities, perhaps
seen smooth at distance
but up close catch
the breath, cut the
fingers with their rough-
hewn balance. Strong
enough to bind,
to keep the dogs
from running
on the road.

#403 Architecture au clair de lune

Some place in — is it? —
North Africa or southern
Italy, where, in the physical
absence of Giorgio de Chirico —
though his influence is every-
where — the moon is over-
seeing a game of pétanque.

A great play is made, but
only the stairs rise up to
applaud. No one else is here
to see it: the mannequins
& bilboquets have all gone
off to bed. Where they toss
& turn, the moon too bright.

#402 The Idol

Position is everything.
That's why this stone
bird can only fly above
a stony landscape. Place
it over water & it would
fall & sink. Is shown in an-
other painting that it's birds
made from the air which
have all the advantages.