#422 Une simple histoire d'amour

All she left him when the
relationship ended was a

chair. Decorated with a lion's
tale to remind him how

boastfully he had entered. Of
such small size that it was only

the humiliation of dismissal
that meant it fit him at the end.

#421 from Aube à l'antipode

                                On the other side of the
                             globe an hourglass over-
                                      turns. There is no
                       breakage. Even so, things start
                             shutting down. Dusk arrives. 
                                  Here, the stage is empty
                                   until Lionel Ritchie appears.
                            He breaks into song. Sings
                                          All night long. In the un-
                             seen audience we see a man's 
                               face fracture as if it were
                                        a mirror. Dawn breaks. 

#420 La Bonne Fortune

& in the supermarket I
buy a pack of pickled
pigs' ears for the alligator.
He doesn't eat them —
dietary or religion I'm
not sure which — but it
carries a simple message.
Stay in line or watch out!

& for the pig I buy a faux
alligator-hide handbag.
She's a lovely animal, &
will appreciate the gift;
but, once again, the mess-
age is aimed at the 'gator.
Step out of line, & the
next one won't be fake!

I go to lunch; the sniping
starts again behind me.
Pig in a poke, I hear from
the pool. Gator so full of
sugar it sold out for that
added aid comes grunting
from the pen. I can't be
bothered quietening them.

#419 Still Life

The tensions ensure that life
is never still. A cathedral or

a school, angular, unplugged,
slides off into the grays &

blues of night. A man moves
forward. He is wearing a mask.

Eyes move along the side of
his head. Birds sing on the

sidelines, not that there are any
of either there. Bards sing in

the background. Keeping them
quiet & still is always a problem.

#418 The Invisible Mirror

The white caps of the waves
are replicated by the shreds
of clouds floating above the
water. The lower clouds are
solid like the continents
above. Angles of reflection
& refraction insinuate the
painter is lying on his back
to complete the composition;
but if that were so there is no
sign of him. At least, not vis-
ible. He has obviously moved.
This is a record of his journey.

#417 L'esprit comique

Unable to see out, & sick
of being adorned with
flowers or vines or those
ugly plaques made from
clay that have the faces of
Roman gods embossed
upon them, the trellis has
decided to escape. Donned

disguise & cut it to shape.
Certainly ends up making
it a figure of fun; but it's
fine to breathe through, &
light enough to stride easily
over miles of countryside.

#416 Foolhardy

The dance floor is con-
fined by mountains of
ice. The ice is also on the
dance floor but is not
for dancing on, though
some have tried. Have
failed. So badly that
they need to call upon

another of their other
selves who also have
come crashing down. A
lesson learnt. Not even
the fanciest mustache can
improve one's balance.

#415 A line from René Magritte

It's a bleak view of hu-
manity. Facing eco-
logical collapse, Freddo,
plus a whole host of

Cadbury characters, went
beyond science to shine
a spotlight on transgender
issues, using their jittery

art-punk guitar buzz to
offer a frayed life-line to
the most vulnerable people.
The snowoman wonders

what the world offers them
outside of that. An ability
to handle subzero temper-
atures? They have that already.

          [originally published in Anti-Heroin Chic]

#414 The Dead Bird

                for Hannah Weiner

No matter how
many times she

opens & closes the
wardrobe door,

the bird behind it
remains dead, part

in, part out of
its ungilded cage.

#413 Sugar Bowl with Fruit & Books (1923)

This could quite easily be the
table of a diabetic, given that
when you Google the individual
components, that's what most of
the responses seem to suggest.

Then change the order, books
in front, & the preservation of
the species leads the way. Not
the human species, not at first.
Push past the jam & conserves

& you come to why sugar is bad
for you, can lead to an early death —
but reading some expensive book
might help you put that off. An-
other permutation, with the bowl

back in, & ceramics from Amazon
loom large. Probably what Magritte
had in mind all along. Who belongs
in the sugar bowl? Why steal Cez-
anne's apples? Where is de Chirico?

#412 Man in a Bowler Hat

Is not a prototype. That came
some years before. The title
suggests it may not be a self-
portrait though of course it is,

even though this time around
we can't rely on the eyes to
confirm it since they can't be
seen — a dove covers a larger

area than an apple. It's the tie
that gives it away, as always
slipped slightly below that
apex of the collar where the

shirt is buttoned. Only the tie's
color changes. The man does
not. The bowler hat follows
what current fashion dictates.