Henri Rousseau
(1844-1910)
Un tout petit oiseau
Sur l’epaule d’un ange
Ils chantent le louange
Du gentil Rousseau . . .
– Guillaume Apollinaire
You, gentilhomme, sing bright colors
Of faded years into this ennui,
Through a dull present, of trackless
Locomotives passing through as I sit
In this nocturnal theater waiting
For the curtain to rise.
Vases of volcanic ash belch melodically
On either side of the stage, hanging
By cords of black hair
In which caterpillars wave tiny violins
To an audience of ethereal flies.
Now, I expect to be served
A mean of explicit contradictions
As I contemplate your simple art,
Clear – oh, so clear – as a spider
Nibbling on one’s leg, quietly.
The curtain suddenly drops to the floor
With peals of raucous clatter: the chandeliers
Twist restlessly, straining forward to see you –
Their whitened eyes growing dim in shrouds of black tears.
The stage is empty, except for you
With your violin of cheese & your bow of bread.
You turn abruptly, and summon
On stage an invisible orchestra:
They struggle on – and, all at last
(I can hear their scruffing on the boards –
You turn to the audience of one:
I rise and bow smartly
To you and your colleagues of quaint memory
Merci, Monsieur Naiden.
Pour vous, nous jouerons
Queque chose de special – La Marseillaise!
You direct an orchestra of seals, now visible,
Bewhiskered and bedecked in your example:
Noble, in the manner of Le Douanier.
Your violin is asleep on the podium
While your bow soars
With aesthetic patriotism.
I watch attentively, as a forest of fervent notes
Marches past, their black boots smiling
In the aisles full of empty wine bottles.
Finally, I want to applaud,
As I resume my seat of warm daffodils,
But – the stage is suddenly deserted –
And I am sinking through my chair!
The daffodils are turning to ashes,
Cold ashes that feel of old flour –
And my hands are melting
In this oven of memories!
James Naiden was Born 1943, American, currently in Minneapolis, MN. His most recent book The Chafings of Mortals, a novel was published December 2011.