#480 Les Ombres

Oh how the
shadow of

the pipe falls
behind every-

thing it comes
in contact with.

Except. This is
not a shadow.

#479 The Banquet (2)

Elsewhere it was September
when trees rose behind the
sun; & the guests watching


from the balcony applauded
the striking nature of the call
to dinner provided by their hosts.

#478 The Harvest

I wasn't around to know
which painting was done
first — this one, or Les Bon 
Jours de Monsieur Ingres.
It's the same model; & she 
is either resting after a long 
day holding up her ewer, 
or she is deep in sleep in 
preparation for the days
to come. I'll leave the de-
fining detective work to 
others, just remind the reader 
of the water pouring from 
that ewer with only the 
background fields to soak 
it up. Suggest that, based
on the lushness of those  
fields, the standing came 
before the lying down.

#477 La Fleche de Zenon

At this point in time
the rock is not falling
or hovering or travel-
ing in a straight line
between two points.

At this point in time
the waves are not
crashing on the shore,
the clouds are still, &
the moon has stopped

orbiting the Earth. At
any point in time, says
Zeno, an arrow is not
moving to where it is
going or where it is not.

No time elapses; so how
can it move? It is already
here, so how can it move
here? At this point in
time I am watching the

movement of a painting
that does not move &
yet it moves this viewer
even though, at this point
in time, the viewer is

motionless.

#476 Olympia

Is that a pangolin that I
see before me? A Manet
woman re-sited au plein air,
still au naturel, with no
accoutrements. On a towel
on a hill overlooking the
sea. The hand that delicately 
covered the nether regions 
replaced by a scaly animal 
that seems quite happy to
breathe in the local aromas. 
It's a simple scene, but with 
sharp edges to cut open the 
Impressionists & lay bare
some of their prejudices — 
racism, classism, a need for 
objects to wear a token of their 
ownership, a conceit that 
flowers will conceal all flaws.