ORIFICE

ORIFICETo perforate in adumbration,as obviator, the sphincter muscleof intensity; then paintthe world in aperture,a picture of one's mind.[57]

To perforate in adumbration,as obviator, the sphincter muscleof intensity; then paintthe world in aperture,a picture of one's mind.[57]

PECULIAR MORNINGAs if every living thing lived, breathedits existenceexplained why water took the shapeof a container,studied sharpened awareness of cold,broke night spots onto a peculiar morning.[58]

As if every living thing lived, breathedits existenceexplained why water took the shapeof a container,studied sharpened awareness of cold,broke night spots onto a peculiar morning.[58]

WHEREa dark, shadow grey mothrests along the grim hue of brick,its spattered orange cream underwings scream a Halloween defianceto the bleariness of stone and city.And before each fold of its wings,there rests beyond all the pale fireand din of a thousand slow eyedempires, feeling the seetheof their existence spentin a fidgeting cauldronwhere mediocrity campswith her dangerous throne.[59]

a dark, shadow grey mothrests along the grim hue of brick,its spattered orange cream underwings scream a Halloween defianceto the bleariness of stone and city.And before each fold of its wings,there rests beyond all the pale fireand din of a thousand slow eyedempires, feeling the seetheof their existence spentin a fidgeting cauldronwhere mediocrity campswith her dangerous throne.[59]

THE TREASURE SHIPSRich ornamental processionenough wealth to dazzle a Prester John,Sheba's queen, even the fawningburghers of Rothschild's domain.Reams of it,Park Avenues intorrents down a mountain side;Eldorados,the gardens of Babylon become shimmering in the sun;this vulgar display,this sheer ostentation.Such are the waters of the rich I now approach.Peach gold fabulous wealth.More men of substance herethan all the proverbial luxury since antiquity,- talents, ingots, ducats -bars so heavily encrusted with gemsthe very floor boards groanwith the largesse.Never a Buddha's toothPierpont scheme,crownor outstretched fingerdid circumnavigatemore treasurethan this eyeswelling aroundthat one treasure chest procured.Like a ship glutting the Spanish Main- my treasure ship -she vies with memy memoriesMidas' goldor Krupp's iron wealth securedall of which is a ransomparleying against the crowned heads of this world.[60]

Rich ornamental processionenough wealth to dazzle a Prester John,Sheba's queen, even the fawningburghers of Rothschild's domain.Reams of it,Park Avenues intorrents down a mountain side;Eldorados,the gardens of Babylon become shimmering in the sun;this vulgar display,this sheer ostentation.Such are the waters of the rich I now approach.Peach gold fabulous wealth.More men of substance herethan all the proverbial luxury since antiquity,- talents, ingots, ducats -bars so heavily encrusted with gemsthe very floor boards groanwith the largesse.Never a Buddha's toothPierpont scheme,crownor outstretched fingerdid circumnavigatemore treasurethan this eyeswelling aroundthat one treasure chest procured.Like a ship glutting the Spanish Main- my treasure ship -she vies with memy memoriesMidas' goldor Krupp's iron wealth securedall of which is a ransomparleying against the crowned heads of this world.[60]

HANNIBALWhen Hannibal mowed down Romanswith elephants,his skill, his artistry,had the effect of a painter's brush.He, scraping paint off an easel,would thrustempires down,trample Graeco - Romish influenceinto paint spattered dust.He neither was aware nor knew,the Alps and Sabine allies,Capua and other Latin tribeswould ruin his oath,cause Baal, the false god,to desert Punic prayers.[61]

When Hannibal mowed down Romanswith elephants,his skill, his artistry,had the effect of a painter's brush.He, scraping paint off an easel,would thrustempires down,trample Graeco - Romish influenceinto paint spattered dust.He neither was aware nor knew,the Alps and Sabine allies,Capua and other Latin tribeswould ruin his oath,cause Baal, the false god,to desert Punic prayers.[61]

THE GATHERING OF DEAD WOODThe gathering of dead wood- driven, pinched in faces betweenthe strain of Van Gogh's setting -had all the more realismhastening down that leaden street.Churning sockets, burdened with the duress of suffering,the street in vigorous winterraced like a bootblackup from the river. Hedged byblack stems called trees, rowsof withered houses and dim bread shopspropositioned rough headlightsalong a promenade of ice stalksand careening streetlamps.Fast in the cold,faces were juggernautsskating treacherouslyover the pond of that closed city.[62]

The gathering of dead wood- driven, pinched in faces betweenthe strain of Van Gogh's setting -had all the more realismhastening down that leaden street.Churning sockets, burdened with the duress of suffering,the street in vigorous winterraced like a bootblackup from the river. Hedged byblack stems called trees, rowsof withered houses and dim bread shopspropositioned rough headlightsalong a promenade of ice stalksand careening streetlamps.Fast in the cold,faces were juggernautsskating treacherouslyover the pond of that closed city.[62]

Cover page

Paul Cameron Brown was born in London, England in 1948.Moving to Canada, he grew up in Kingston beforeattending high school in the southern community of Chatham.He spent five years at University of WesternOntario in London with summers interspersed betweenwork and travel. The early seventies saw trips to Europe,the West and Mexico.Currently teaching high school in Brampton, his poemshave appeared in Quarry, Nebula, Boreal, NorthernJourney, Stuffed Crocodile, Tightrope, as well asa number of anthologies in the U.S."... one can instantly sense the private and resonant landscapein the delicate nature... exciting water colour, a true painter of words."Joe RosenblattThree Trees Press

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