An Office Walkabout
An African monkey—given in trade for therapy—comes
from a tribe known to worship a white-pallored deity—
long before whiteface Pierrots hit Paris. Its merriment
endorses the marrow within imagination and karma.
An Office Walkabout
Spanish-folk-carved alabaster, mouthed ‘Oh’ for six decades
overlooking New Jersey’s rolling hills. Brought back home
from WWI, it surveyed the old soldier and his college professor
partner, gentleman farmers unencumbered by propriety.
An Office Walkabout
Sanding the beak he’d just finished chiseling, Juan
pointed to the first-growth stand of trees nearby
in Tocuaro, a flashback of old Mexico, where his great-
grandfather discovered fine-grained carving wood.
An Office Walkabout
As you enter, receive a bow, an Asian custom, my hands praying you in
from where you were to where you are. Assume a greenhouse intention
in the wall’s pistachio pigment. Your first step is liminal, watched over by masks.
The Carnival sun, once danced in Rio and moon face-molded along Florence’s Arno. Daylight’s yang, night’s yin will cradle the twoness inside us and around us.