[Bottle]
“Guidelines
when Painting“
Pierre
Bonnard, detail of ‘Dining room at Le Cannet’ (1932)
Remind
them of the shape of bottle
lip
and neck and base and not too subtle
how
it fills the space not too little.
Erect
the form using line. incorrect colour
the
time it takes to fill with water
or
something sweeter or tipsier, richer.
Suggest
body with blue patch of window,
crimson
curl reflection, distant dayglow
inside
glass silver liquid, go with the flow.
Demonstrate,
using cubist traction
impressionist
smudge, baroque affection,
its
air of indefinite abstraction.
Imagine
the genie who got us all here
all
the questions so far yet so near.
all’s
as it appears, yet changed it’s clear.
Write
the message bottled for their word game
who
still have to find out how futile is fame;
only
love, work, rest, signed with your name.
Imply
that all objects have such mystery,
the
contents take effect in all their variety;
the
poet said it, the world’s incorrigible plurality.
Describe
its glassiness as simply the start
of
iconic afternoon its edges prefiguring dark.
there
are years wherein to appreciate the art.
Leave
it to breathe where you saw it last
to
the gaze of aging friends sharing the past
and
the young who find the whole thing a blast.
