#71 À la suite de l’eau, les nuages

After the water, the

clouds. After clouds

the telephone. Then

the hope that

someone will hear it

ring. After the answer

the question. Who

picked the flowers?

#70 The Lost World

In the surrounding
countryside
trees define
the type of horse
that might be found
there. The contours
suggest a woman’s
body; but with a
different angularity
some have seen
it as an empty
bowl of fruit. A figure
loses its memory
along with its outline.
Words wilt in the
winter heat. There
are no dinosaurs.

#69 Musings of a Solitary Walker

He does not think
about the water
he walks
beside. He walks
without it. Another
river. The Sambre.
His mother’s
suicide by drowning,
her nightdress a
veil around her face—
but that’s another
painting. This is
the Rue Morgue,
levitation, the corpse
laid bare. He does not
think about her. She
is a disquieting muse.
He leaves her behind
on the bridle-path, walks
on alone. Apples &
umbrellas will
eventually overtake him.

#68 The Happy Hand

The distances de-
fined. & by default
the spaces in
between. Balanced
relationships. Without
which the fingers
would not harmonize.
Some things taught,
something less
learnt. Practice makes.
Not perfect but im-
parts some form
to it. A semblance
of. In part. Way there.
Waiting for. What
is brought to it.
Outside the span.

#67 The Art of Conversation III

A bull
in a state
of grace,
although
alert enough
to seem
alive. Birds in
silhouette, al-
most a word,
the land
above, the
sea below. A
pace behind
unseen &
silent, she stands
parenthesized
by columns
listening to
everything
they have
to say.
 

#66 The House of Glass

Sonic
booms after
the sound barrier
is broken break
glass. The
speed of light
equates with
Einstein. Curved
space, looped
time, a Möbius
infinity of
simultaneous
starts & endings.
 

#65 Les Mémoires d'un saint

The theater
in
the round

is
open to the
sky.

The sins
offstage.

#64 The Use of Speech

Words mean

only

what you think

they mean. Others

may see them

differently.

#63 Memory (1)

Just as the
seasons & the sun
& the position of
the other
stars start
growth in plants
& birds to
fly to imprinted
destinations

so, too, do
anniversaries of
certain incidents
in the life
of Giorgio de Chirico
cause bells
to fall silent &
fall to earth.

Antiquities weep
blood. In the
Byzantine piazzas
of the labyrinth
pigeons pause
& whisper
Hebdomeros.

#62 Irène or Forbidden Literature

Levity & lemonade
for dinner. What changed
your mind? No matter.
I went along with your
desire to dance. Pushed
the stairway into a corner
of the room to give
us more of it. You
moved around me. I
kept time by ringing out
the rhythm on the bell
balanced above my finger.
Your first steps reiterated
your name. What else
they wrote there
I am not allowed to tell.

#61 The Legend of the Centuries II

The little chair
sits on
the enormous chair

even though
neither chair

is there
for sitting on.

Dwarfed by
la création
le créateur

or)

the Greeks
the Romans
will conquer.