Water-Lilies by Claude Monet
beyond the frame is
a bird
exploding so
the pond is
drenched
in bird. that is
drenched by
the first Spring Phoenix
fire feathers
shivering on
the pond surface
wet fire feathers
Spring Phoenix
born from ash
stolen from swollen
fire grates and
invocated in
sweet lullaby by
the Sunrise King
whose coronation
takes place in
pond burnt crimson and
pond stroked violet and
in dawn dew and
in dusk dew and
Sunrise King sings
feather glimmer onto
the pond sings
a mood of
violence sings
bird onto the pond.
Still Life with Plaster Cupid by Paul Cézanne
framed in the tub yr
deft frame spitting
sexy droplets and
draw me like yr French girls
you said head in
the bowl trying to tell
blood from tomato and
as you thrust a
banana aloft in my
face I thought here
a spear trapped in fibre could
that be translated? whilst
you slipped back into the
bath grasping
overripe pears to
shoot pears at the canvas pears
rapidly growing then
dismantled almost
traceless but for
brief percussion dialogue between
canvas and pear then
gone
my paintbrush
clamped in yr pearl drops
Light House
Samuel Rowe is a student and poet from Brighton, UK, studying in New Orleans. He coedits the Killer Whale Journal.