is it possible that Donald Trump
and Rod Blagojevich are really
the same person?
could there be
another toupee
at large as bad as that one
ready to pounce
on unsuspecting children?
or can there be
two personalities roaming around the universe
so abrasive or outrageous?
but I’m stating the obvious
like: people who prefer buffets
tend to buy a Thomas Kinkade more often
than a Picasso
you imagine you can walk right into his painting
and follow those secret hues to their logical conclusions
such a simple concept:
a band of ebony
on a moonless field
and yet no one had thought of it before
did he give up on testimony when
he gave up on gods?
what did he see
when he looked at the unmarked canvas?
that burst of light
must have come from somewhere
on Letterman
Craig, in his redolent Scottish burr,
says that lindsay lohan
drives on the left too
a big laugh and applause
and I wonder: who exactly
is lindsay lohan and why to do these people
average folks from Portland
Butte and Winnepesaukee
know what I don’t know?
have you been punk’d and
would I be able to see it if you had?
I thought ET was a film by Spielberg
but every time I check that channel
it is a story about a twenty-something celebrity
I don’t know
Kanye, P Diddy, J Lo, 50 cent
I’ll look them up on Wikipedia
and trust it’s right
at least it weighs less
than the thirty volumes of Britannica sitting
in my basement
an easel holds the canvas
mostly green with a band of yellow
perhaps a landscape at dusk
sun glowing on the horizon
but look close:
unfinished, mocking me
for a year
each day I pass it and
say, today I’ll start again
but email must be checked
the dogs’ water bowl is empty
I wonder what the Weather Channel
is saying about the chance for rain?
later, as I walk by a brush
will be nowhere to be found
all out of that perfect shade of blue
and it’s too late to visit Utrecht
The trellises are strung with rope lights, so night provides another way to experience them. Since serendipity is a goal of this project (OK, I realize that you can’t plan for a serendipitous experience, but you can plan to embrace it when it comes. Of course, it’s not serendipity if you don’t recognize and embrace it, right? It’s just some random occurrence. Does a serendipitous experience become some thing else if you are on the lookout for it?), the random siting this time around provided an interesting arrangement, particularly after dark (when I look at the pattern of the lights, I see the outline what might be a horse; albeit, a horse with a big nose. Or perhaps a reindeer. Rudolph? Too early for Christmas, but maybe he’s out reconnoitering for Santa. Now that I think about it, it sort of looks like the Road Runner’s nose.) Well, certainly not anything I had in mind when I started this, but I’ll take it.
Today was moving day for the trellises. Three more canvasses were removed, also. Here’s a photo of the current location and configuration.
Day by day, the mushrooms change. Some of the changes are subtle; some are dramatic. The decaying process seems to affect some more than others. Here are a few more photos I took yesterday. By the end of the week, these will be gone (the guy who mows our yard is coming on Friday).
I spent part of Saturday cleaning the canvasses I have removed from the trellises. As I mentioned before, the cool and wet weather caused heavy mildew to form on them. I checked several websites to determine the best way to remove the mildew without damaging the art. First, about a week ago, I sprayed the canvas with Lysol to kill the mildew or any mold spores present and let them dry thoroughly. Next, I used a stiff brush to remove as much of the dried mildew as I could. I did this outside (it was a beautiful almost-fall day), wearing a respirator mask to be sure that I did not inhale any of the dust. The canvasses looked pretty good after that, but I decided to take an extra step that had gotten mixed reviews on the websites I looked at. I used a very diluted mixture of non-chlorine bleach (probably 20-1 bleach and water) to wash the canvasses. This was very effective in removing the rest of the mildew and cleaning the canvasses of the remaining dirt and dust that had accumulated in the weeks that they were outside.
There are four canvasses remaining on the three trellises. Next Saturday is another move and I’ll remove three of the four canvasses then, and clean them. One more move after that.
This summer’s weather has been perfect… for growing mushrooms in my yard. They have surrounded and enhanced the uniqueness of the trellises. Here are a few shots of what I discovered today.
I am into the first week of the third month of this project. I intended from the beginning to remove the trellises at the end of September. When I moved them last week-end, I began the deconstruction process, removing a canvas from each. I removed another set of canvases today. Here are photos of the trellises as they are constituted.
Let the waters come... 