Monet at
Giverny
1
his lily pond
a mirror shattering
shards of clouds
flames beneath the
lilies
fractured fish
2
the executioner
stripes evening
a cross the sacrificed
horizon
in blood we were born
in earth will we rest
our flesh turned to
bread
empurpled this
imperial wine
streaming with day's
death
these troubled waters
3
green footprints the
lily pads
a halo
this drowned man's
beard
liquescent
like the gods
he dreamed
he walked dry over
water
flowering goldfish
this thin line of
cloud
4
maples flash ruby
thoughts
ripples flowing
outwards
as heavy as a stone at
Stonehenge
this altar tumbling
downwards
through a liquid sky
5
wisteria and his curly
blue locks
Narcissus clad in an
abyss of lilies
imperial his
reflection and perilous
slowly he slides to
sleep
merging into his
imaged dream
a vaulted cathedral
his earthbound ribs
the blood space
immaculate
6
night and day and sun
and clouds
leapfrogging over
water
something survives
sepia tints
dreaming on and on
exotic this sudden
movement
Carassius auratus
flowering
7
Clos Normand and the
Grande Allée
closed to him now
folded his flowers
their petals tight at
his nightfall
dark their colours
mourning for his
mornings of light
fled far from him now
8
can we soften this
sunstroke of brightness
le roi soleil
threatening to blind us?
rey de oros
the sun glow braiding
itself
an aureate palette
a susurration of
leaves
9
the lady of the lake
holding out her hand
handing him an apple
l'offrande du coeur
a scarlet heart of
flame
monochromatic this
island
brown earth in a
crimson lake
the world reborn in
tulips
10
especially
when the dying sun
molten fire spreading
a limpid light
sky brimming over into
pond
trapped in low clouds
a slash of colour here
and there a tree
a fountain of gold
the sun an apple
blushing
on a setting branch
11
silver-white the money
plant
moonlight between
fine-tuned fingers
its rattle of seeds
blunt the moon's bite
raked from water
gaunt its gesture
matched ripples
face to face
with the moon
12
upside down these
clouds
bright in their winter
boats
the night wind blows
clean dry bones
across the sky
13
fish aloft like birds
skimming wet sunshine
spring's first swallow
rising from the depths
to snatch a golden
note
quivering in the air
14
thunder raises dark
ripples
lightning a forked
tongue
insinuated into
paradise
an apple tossed away
caution thrown over
the shoulder
as sharp as salt
15
winds of change
that first bite
too bitter to remember
16
timeless this tide
this ebb and flow
oh great pond-serpent
biting yourself
forever
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