Black Paintings (part 2)

A river flowing under ice, the heart beating in a chest—love

Permits a walker along the lake to see what’s at the bottom, tessitura

Of shore lines, the seasons’ highs and lows, themes and variation.

“Let’s not forget,” the artist said, “in small emotions are great

Highs and lows of appetite, of satisfaction.” Captaining our lives,

The extreme ranges, as in the high and low notes of a composition.

“All appetites have their illusions,” the critic writes of love’s refusals.

And love’s expanses: “When little happens, the brain compresses time.”

Stick figures on the sidewalk, tiny toy trucks in the dirt on either side.

Vertebrae a list, a theme and variations. Our appetites, our satisfactions

In love’s economy a system of vowels, a spider’s silk-lined walls.

A child’s pyramid of stones. An appetite for love’s refusals.

Leopard seals trilling low, droning calls beneath the ice. Chalky

Eels on ice in Chinatown. Our appetite for pattern’s satisfactions

A theme and variations. Ice compressed of air turns blue to black.



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Leopard seals trilling low, droning calls beneath the ice; chalked

Tide lines on the shore—the highs and lows, a theme and variation

Of love’s expanses. When little happens, the brain compresses time.

A child’s pyramid of stones. An appetite for love’s refusals.

The river flowing under ice, a heart beating in a chest: Love’s

Theme and variations. Ice compressed of air turns blue. Black ice

Is love’s economy: A system of vowels, a spider’s silk-lined walls.

The extreme ranges, as in the high and low notes of a composition.

“Let’s not forget,” the artist said, “small emotions make for greater

appetites.” Our satisfactions a theme and variations, a list, like vertebrae

Or eels arranged on ice in Chinatown. Appetite for pattern’s satisfactions

Permits a walker at the lake to see what’s on the bottom. Tessitura—

The highs and lows of appetite, of satisfaction; the captains of our lives.

Of love’s refusals, “All appetites have their illusions,” the critic writes.

Stick figures on the sidewalk, tiny toy trucks in the dirt on either side.