Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these

RAVENNA DIAGRAM  READING GUIDE #9

CLOUD-GIRDLE  (p. 11)

This poem was first published in the journal West Branch.

“El Anatsui” : prominent Ghanaian sculptor, born 1944

“Anansi” : West African folktale character with Trickster qualities; often takes form of spider

“weaves diaphanous / Byzantium veils” : some of El Anatsui’s works are large wall hangings that shimmer with luminous colors, produced by threads, thin wires, bits of scrap metal and other materials

“Something greater than fin-de-siecle Vienna...” : shimmering gold of wall-hangings calls to mind “Golden Phase” of Viennese artist Gustav Klimt.  Comparison framed in terms echoing Gospel text contrasting Jesus with other kings and prophets

“sinuous, sooth- // siring Solomon” : King Solomon, credited for wisdom.  Bible claims he authored thousands of poems.  The serpentine phrasing foreshadows allusions to Hart Crane in following stanzas

“Makossa, Ebeano, Dark Sailor...” : evocative names of African beers whose bottle caps adorn the wall-hangings

“forlorn cells of Africa” : see Crane’s poem “Black Tambourine”

“amiable fellowship... diamond cobra” : fellowship of people of good will is source of the culminating “diamond cobra” (“wise as serpents”) of both human solidarity and beautiful art works

“Solomon in all his glory...” : Jesus’ assertion that the beauty of wildflowers is greater than that of Solomon.  Glories of art returned to their source in nature and the earth

“field lilies, Flanders / epitaphs” : and the earth is also a grave.  Here motif of World War I first appears in R.D.

“Grandfather’s / brass shell, after St. Mihiel” : poet’s grandfather, Edward S. Gould, served as artillery captain in the AE.F.

“Copper wire, / steel helmets” : war contrasted to art, and El Anatsui’s use of these metals

“greater mettle” : pun on metal.  Creative art in a struggle with violence

What cheer, Netop?

WESTERN STAR

Words gather round you, little tree

of Providence – little pine

of memory, blue-green

as the sea.  An Itasca task for me,

to reckon the source of poetry –

freshwater Ocean State

from a spring so shy, so late!

– in the heart of Hobo’s Mississippi.

Like a calm symmetry between

twin Mirror Lakes... maize

mazes, where she stakes

me down (tied at the bow to green

apple root)... under the granite gate

at Prospect Terrace – Roger’s

benevolent dream-sponge,

soaking up querulous fear & hate

& wringing them out upon a font

of Narragansett friendship.

What cheer, Netop?

hails the raven-tested testament

of human fellowship – fond canoe

of rational amphibian,

this turtledove Leviathan

who swallows all to bear Jonah anew.

Buoyant almond of my soul... you are

that copper-penny Liberty

harboring everyone for free –

between Caesar & God, one Western Star.

9.8.17

after Bruegel

BRUNE STEEPLE

Horsehair flickering a panorama

of rustic proverbs.  Bruegel

as the crow flies... oil

congeals a plangent winter summa.

Infant beginnings at the end.

Light-hearted kids under

a hulking storm.  Her

hunchback flimsy beggar-friend.

A village in the blank weather,

the dread season.  Human

high fellowship.  The reign

of love rings in the killing air.

Absolute zero.  Vanishing point.

& will the center hold

within this trench of cold?

The Flemish realm is out of joint.

Remember when the honcho came?

The strong man, offering

rewards or suffering,

no quibbling.  The gilded frame

worm-riddled.  & where ravens gather,

there your servant lies –

his casque of Paradise

just one hard crust, one leather

jug milked round a cackling blaze.

Dark curls of brune steeple

remind knife-shadowed people

how a dove broods in a thorny maze.

1.9.17