To begin ...

As the twentieth century fades out
the nineteenth begins
.......................................again
it is as if nothing happened
though those who lived it thought
that everything was happening
enough to name a world for & a time
to hold it in your hand
unlimited.......the last delusion
like the perfect mask of death

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Jerome Rothenberg: Victor Hugo - A Portrait


making art out of his morning coffee grounds, ashes and matchsticks



1

A black & white world, more beautiful than any scorched by color. But the beauty here is finite – immediately an act of the imagination, not as we see (in color) but transformed, by subtraction, into a foreign world.

2
I am aware of it -- & you – but you, I dare to think, are far from it – out of the picture, cut from sight. This is another subtraction – the person who should be there but who is missing – truly. For this I bite my hand & I return to sleep.

3
Scarce & so received
as to be harmless,
languishing,
his hands held open,
gilded, like a saint.
Who is this cavalier?
I hesitate
to name him – one
without a name.

3 comments:

Phanero Noemikon said...

I love the book the did
of his drawings. This is very
nice, thanks.

Unknown said...

It looks oustanding, specially the display pic.

public speaking

Arness.Ovine said...

althogh I don't know... :)
but it's nice..
I like..