Victorian Foyer With Ivory Statues
Animal Graveyards
ivory ornaments in an elephant graveyard…
how commonplace a disaster may become!
even death falls to desuetude
and has no dominion
over the mundane.
like old fur coats imprison'd zoo of the hall closet…
like vinous fox stoles with agate, beady eyes;
vestibules of my grandparents
where Adam’s television
made gray-fingered dawn.
knock upon the door; it will not be opened to you!
animal skin, bone, and hide within our homes
prayed for magic; the spirit cares
naught for doors… and gets a
panoply of portals!
Elephant Leg Umbrella Stand
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notes:
imprison'd zoo - imprisoned in the zoo = imprison = in + prison = in prison, that is, the zoo
Adam's television - early tv sets with black and white picture, the light of which breaks like dawn, but not "rosy-fingered" dawn.
"Knock and it will be opened..."
This is misinterpreted usually and conforms to a magical way of thinking: how we force a god to do our will.
Only by disdaining all thought of doors will one fall into a forest of doors.
I am late getting this up; I was at my parents, assisting my mother care for my father, and they have no internet. I pray that his pain may go away, but I suppose I must disdain the presence or the absence of pain in order to have power over it... our prayers are infinite.
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