The Peacock, for his April show

The Peacock, for his April show,
The Greatest Magic Show On Earth,
will make the Building disappear
in front of twenty million eyes.

The hand is quicker than the eye.
The mind suspects the glass of show.
The night is cold, and so appears
the form of loss, the form of earth.

Broadcast round the round of earth,
electronically to our eyes,
the beveled Building reappears
to end the reassuring show.

The show on earth gives us two words,
one for the ears, one for the eyes.

Comments

Anonymous said…
These are developing into a quite mystical sequence. I have been reading them regularly, but holding off posting until I had a real flavour. I find the structure interesting-- I assume the sequence will finish like a coronal, establishing a circular return. This is quite a tricky structure to employ, I feel, and the most effective sections are those which have a fluent syntax and articulate energy. I am taken by the sheer variety of imagery as the sequence unfolds.
1:39 PM
Anonymous said…
"[M]ystical" - hmmm. I have to say am very pleased with your choice of word.
5:08 AM
Jee Leong said…
The sequence is inspired by Herman Hesse's Glass Bead Game. The sonnetinas form a necklace of voices: 1-4 from Amsterdam, 5-10 from Singapore, 11-14 from New York City. The key:

1. Tourist
2. Anne Frank
3. Jeremiah (in Rembrandt's painting)
4. Sex Worker
5. Returning Immigrant
6. Terrorist
7. Lung Patient
8. Bureaucrat
9. Weatherman
10. Parameswara
11. Waiter
12. Artist
13. Magician
14. Walker
4:01 PM
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