#268 The Return

                          The temperament
                 of birds. Cardboard
                              container of take-
                   out noodles masquerades as
                       a nest of eggs. Light.
                        Elongated? No, not
                               that, the things it
                           touches. Ensuing.

 

#267 Mesdemoiselles de l’Isle Adam

                         It can be hard 
                to stand out 
                               amongst one's
                  peers: so the 
                     necklines of 
                                the light blue 
                silk gowns are 
                         low & the rose-
                     colored boots 
                           all have bro-
                      cade tops. & to
              top it off, who
                        can forget a 
                band—or was that
                     brand?—name like
                        Telepathy-gabble
                  & Structured 
                              Exercise? Tell
                    me again. Why 
                       do I need viagra?
 

#266 The Fifth Season

A trial does not change
minds so much as
reinforce what people
always thought they
knew. It is for this reason
that we take a particular

interest in individual &
social learning. A while
ago the corpse was
quietly interred. I now
believe it is time to
re-examine his doctrine.

#265 The Human Condition (1935)

Inside the
outside

      is much
      the same

as outside
the outside

      except 
      there are

far fewer 
people.

#264 Saucisse casquée

                                     To disguise the popular 
                           Paganisms of the 
                                Day, the Africans 
                                         introduced okra,
                                     the Spanish spices
                         & red peppers. From
                              a wacky conference 
                    center situated in a 
                                      flying saucer, the 
                                   Food Standards 
                         Agency announced it was 
                                            considering taking 
                              legal action. Those Germans 
                                                sure take their 
                                    meat very seriously.
 

#263 [Composition on a Sea Shore]

#262 The Ordeal of Sleep

I like
painting
Georgette asleep
as much as I
like watching
her sleeping; but
it’s an ordeal
for me unless I
take her night-
dress off &
paint her lying
on her side. I
cannot forget
how my mother
was found
after her suicide,
floating on her
back in the
river with her
nightdress up
over her face
as if it were
a veil.

#261 The Orient

The source is probably The
Source, that, elsewhere
anadyomène, Ingres nude who

pauses, poses, water pouring
from a ewer resting on her
shoulder. Who has grown

bored with the stasis of it
all, put down the ewer, torn
it open, then climbed inside.

#260 La Clairvoyance (1936)

First pose the
bird, & then

paint the egg
as it appears.

#259 The Invention of Life

Very little is known
about the early life
of Archimedes before
he invented personal
flotation devices. It

could be him here, in
some sort of Chinese
movie, middle-class
woman, hidden man,
considering the placebo

effect, or the drift of
religions into new
forms, & wondering if
they change the way we
think about medicine?

#258 Fine Realities