#82 La Lampe Philosophique

Ceci n'est pas
une pipe, c'est
un récipient
pour les narines.

#81 Bel Canto

He would stand
before the mirror &
practice the gestures of
song. Outstretched arms,
the slightly oval O
of the mouth, chin
down on the chest
but not inhibiting the
flow of air. More
the reverse, draining
the diaphragm just
as his teacher had
shown him. Get
the technique down,
she said, & then I'll
show you the notes
that flow from it.
 

#80 The Apparition (1)

Windows on both sides leather armchair
card table foldup ping pong table. A colorful
oriental rug is seen. The colonel sat back
asking for news about the outer world. His hands
were concealed in the cloud of the horse's
lifted mane. It grew dark
in the weird silence, broken only by the
faint crack of a rifle. The white lines became
ghostlike; star-shells arched & finally melted
into the ambiguous cloud-land over the horizon.



(assisted by Leevi Lehto's Google Poem Generator)
 

#79 The Discovery of Fire (1)

Taken away from its
normal context of
fire & legend, the
phoenix cannot
stand the
scrutiny. The most
beautiful of birds
no longer
with us. Self-
propagation
can only last so
long, especially when
there's only one
at any given time.
The matter of the myth
degrades. Comes back
as something simpler. But
still suffused with fire.
 

#78 L'Esprit de Géométrie

Most
of us
would say
the faces
have
been ex-
changed

but to the
mathematical
mind it is
more a
trans-
position of
figures.

#77 The Origins of Language

On a day sometime
before, & about which
the weather was
unknown, he climbed
almost to the top
of a pinnacle of rock
&, armed only with
a palette knife & a
sable brush, cut
away the apex
to leave a flat
platform. So that,
on the next
fine day, with only
a few clouds about,
he could climb to
the very top & dive
into the sea, thereby
giving the people some-
thing to talk about.

#76 L'Arbre de la science

Leaves of
sword
& horse &

trunk
of curtain
rod — how

does your
garden
grow?
 

#75 The Human Condition (1933)

We
are one
with the landscape.

#74 Magritte in North Queensland

There are no clouds. Let
me add some. A flock
of rainbow lorikeets
animates the sky. Let me
make them one bird
& take the color
out of it. Translucent
so the light shines through
but leaves some substance
in behind. The sky
darkens at the arrogance
of the act. The land
is consumed by the sea.
Imagination's orphan
becomes La Grande Famille.

#73 The Misanthropes

So great
their hatred
of humanity

they plant
heavy drapes
to keep it out.

A human act.
 

#72 The Wedding Breakfast

The Christian fable
is loaves &
fishes. For M.
an egg. The lion
is an early piece of
microwave technology,
its presence agitating
sub-atomic particles
in the air. Two minutes
& the egg is boiled. The
wedding ceremony takes
a little longer. Priests
prefer convection ovens.