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Monday, July 30, 2007

The smell of campfire smoke

At the edge of the fire

These suns, though lit by our near star’s light,
don’t moon after that primal source, but cite
their own chemical marriage. My temporal
landscape, stopped by red Rothko on a stairwell
when I was nine (his cadmiums stained
me to tears, made me wonder how paint contained
that sadness) saw time bent into n-folded trails
and campfires: I watched Cornell’s scissor-tales
butterfly into mâché-bouquets for dissembling
starlets; Rodin’s rough hands cast a die, gambling
with the clay-foot Muse; Kandinsky’s radiant
topographies map the geography of transcendence.
I’ve sat at the fire’s edge as those alchemists fed
me visions, stardust recombinant, gold from lead.

9 comments:

Bravecat said...

Happy birthday!

:P

Reya Mellicker said...

Wow! This is your work, yes?

Thank you for giving me a language to understand the power of art.

MB said...

Incandescent!

am said...

Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday, Lori!

I LOVE your sonnet. It's a love poem of the highest degree.

Susanna said...

this was beautiful. I love the mix of imagry and mystery.

Lori Witzel said...

Thanks everyone! Fast feedback on break...

QC: How did you know? Hope you find a piece of cake to celebrate with me! ;-)

Reya: Yepper, that was written by me, finished (as if a poem is ever done) last night. Glad it resonated!

MB: Thanks -- glad those sparks lit you up!

am: Happpppy Birttthhday! Yippee! And thanks for the props -- yes, I do love those guys and their work, and a bunch more besides.

Susangelique: I am so glad you liked -- you're welcome at my campfire anytime, but do bring extra hats!

Larry said...

You certainly can wax lyrical at times, Lori! Happy birthday from a kindred soul in Missouri!

jarvenpa said...

beautiful (and it is your birthday??).

Lori Witzel said...

Hi back all y'all!

Larry -- Thanks so much! I so envy your moth fiesta, am glad to have a kindred soul in MO catching and sharing those and other wonders.

Jarvenpa -- Thanks, and it was -- another day older and yet no wiser! But I did have a nice cake. :-)