Looking Glass

Saint Paul, 30 December 2005

Brood over daylight parallelograms in paragons of female anatomy

Hairline cracks belie the countenance of declining varnish and vanity

Silver coins insinuate the minted emblems of immoderate wealth

Weeping wax candles drip brevity like perpetuity exits an hourglass

Sockets of a skull cradle miniature portraits of anonymous patrons

Ape-like figurines positioned to doubt impugn the truth of a mirror

Roses comprise dualities less palpable and more lasting than beauty

A vase overflowing with blooming achievement teeters on its stem

Examine the studio windows on rising bubbles poised to rupture

The objects depict an uneasy twilight between this and extinction

Monochrome washes cast weight to the cruel economy of existence

The looking glass reflects your radiance wistful in reluctant hues

Notes:

Looking Glass is derived from contemplating 17th century Dutch still-life

paintings that exhibit some aspects of vanitas. The Latin vanitas refers

to the "vanity" of worldly things, such as riches, beauty, pastimes, learning,

and the arts. Still-life vanitas paintings contain symbolic subject matter

that, in toto, laments the transience of all things.