3.
Isopteran
Here above ground is visual
chaos of grasses, rampant,
rank with midsummer; sepals
decaying in slime after rain,
alternately desiccating in sun;
while hidden from view
there is structure,
architecture of chambers,
granaries, galleries,
order of logical form
that might have elicited
le Corbusier’s awe,
van der Rohe’s respect
(less is more);
could have inspired
Gaudi’s envy.
I who live in a virtual mess,
a leafy slew of paper detritus,
study the termitary’s arcana,
bloated queen without workers,
soldiers, having dispensed
with king and progeny,
alone in a wooden cell
that teems with wraiths of memory,
harbours the tenuous
perfume of rain,
flight’s trajectory
searing through the brain
in lieu of long-lost wings…
December 2005
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* See also foam:e 7
http://www.foame.org/