Blue Drift

sky after storm, September 14, 2001

Pale head-scumble and mushroom cluster along slip scuppers

Smudge assemblies tower below into a slowing tornado claw

Horse-island processional between fossil roof and tumbletown

A palm-octopus dilates its dark points under long heave-hulls

Sway of shade ribs like subway lines in a vague skin skein

A skeleton puffsnake underbites the river's slate-shade belly

Long slide-glide trails veils across the warped angel wreckage

One sputter-train eases by through a streamy repeater tunnel

Volt cross-rods stammer as the flecked skins blue into merge

Fainting bronze-gray drapes trail down after fadeout sunfall

Untitled (Thunder Kami) (c.1900) Toshio Aoki

Airstrides before a blood-orange cloud wall

black brows flaming into tonsured mane

black whiskers framing anarchic snarl-grin

Drumheads orbit his head like doom moons

He reaches back sticks beating nimbus boom

Cruelty drum Trouble drum deceit drum

kanji black names twist uncoil on each disk

A silk jelly tentacle swirl spills from crimson

yawn-armor mouth-plates on belly and knees

over raw tiger pelt draped down from waist

Lightning webs in taut zigzag array link

his atoms of rage into nucleic molecules

Advancing in the lit storm skins thrumming

Cyclone drum Thunder drum Life drum

his scowl-knot fists bang the storm's heart

Barbarian Venus (1921) Paul Klee 1879-1940

Up from black disk and black rod

leg-arms open on pube scribble

long pussycock spires to ovary-eyes

between breasts waving like leaves

a narrow neck dance-leans Balinese

gaze branching either side above

lips lush yet indifferent to result

from her headspace the type arrow

like a subway sign This Way Up

points to a gouache sunrise arched

over androgynous tristesse bliss