Mag 95- “Futility-Ha!” Mired in Schadenfreude, With Elephant
When I saw the photo prompt of Tess Kincaid of Magpie Tales this week–a wonderful painting/photo of a swimmer partly buried in sand, my brain filled instantly with heavy poems. But in the midst of a sun-filled walk, silliness came to mind, and, true to nature, I opted for that:
Futility-Ha!
The fledgling surrealist, mired in schadenfreude, built his
scene with greyed hues and competitive passion–
Take that, Dali, with your dribble of melting clocks, your
self-referential facial hair; your stinking thrown arched cat–
He sniffed.
And you, de Chirico,
forget the portentous shadows–he darkened
the outlines of empty rowboat– that grandiose
trapped geometry, I’ll
show you Futility.
A moment bent towards the palette,
milking color. What he sought was
the suggestive but mysterious, just a touch
of squeamish–wrinkles in caught
flesh: I’ll put my oar in now, ha ha!
(The tenor of that laugh was getting worrisome, thought the
studio assistant, scurrying for more turp.)
A person chest-swallowed in sand, a nearby boat, parked
boat, sober waiting
boat– So much for Rimbaud–dab dab–(a muted blue
that should be steel filled the inner keel)– and it will be my passenger
who is sunk
and not the ship; the actor, the observer both, an
image to get stuck from
shore to shore-–
To turn up the volume (as it were),
he bared the dim-pale back, turned shoulders
to swimmer’s rounds,
sculpted with cylindrical precision (but unclear
detail) a bathing cap.
Profundity, eh! he grinned, the assistant quietly
checking the studio door–sometimes he locked it
from the inside–
And you, Magritte! How do you like
them apples?
P.S. A few side notes: the creator of the true image (without elephant) is Mostafa Habibi, who, to the best of my knowledge, has no beef with Salvador Dali, Giorgio diChirico, Arthur Rimbaud, or Rene Magritte, all of whom I admire greatly.
P.P.S. – if you like silliness, please please please check out my new silly, but fun, teen novel, Nose Dive, by Karin Gustafson, illustrated (terrifically) by Jonathan Segal. On Amazon. When you’re there–take a look at Going on Somewhere (poetry) or 1 Mississippi (elephants). Thanks much!
Explore posts in the same categories: elephants, iPad art, poetry, UncategorizedTags: Karin Gustafson, Magpie Tales, manicddaily, painting elephant, poetry about surrealist artists
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ManicDDaily 
December 11, 2011 at 2:10 pm
ha that was fun…and playful to imagine the feelings toward the other artists as well…you got me smiling along with you…and nice to see the elephant back…smiles.
December 11, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Yes, it’s definitely a photo that can lend itself to the less than playful, but I’m a bit tired of that direction! K.
December 11, 2011 at 2:17 pm
I enjoyed the creative and clever way you worked with this prompt…both by picture and words!
December 11, 2011 at 3:40 pm
Very well educated silliness! lol, well done!
December 11, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Oh! I would so love to spend an afternoon with your Muse– brilliant.xxxj
December 11, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Ha! Thanks! I just wanted to do something a bit different, and I had the elephant from an older painting, so knew I could do some reconfiguring.
December 11, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Very cool.
December 12, 2011 at 3:14 am
I absolutely LOVE your silliness, and applaud your masterful image into the bargain! This will be tops of the Magpies for me! LOL ♥
December 12, 2011 at 3:27 am
Very creative and entertaining!
December 12, 2011 at 6:42 am
Loved it!
December 12, 2011 at 7:41 am
You are so creative. This is a true gem!
December 12, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Pure and utter delight …………
December 12, 2011 at 5:22 pm
“Profundity, eh!” I love it!
December 12, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Hi Mama Zen,
Thanks so much for your kind comment and all the kind comments on this very silly piece. K.
December 13, 2011 at 11:56 am
A nimble and nifty take on the prompt.
December 14, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Your artist here seems somewhat of a diva! Very creative, K–I enjoyed it.
December 14, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Splendid stuff and great fun!
Anna :o]
January 10, 2012 at 8:00 pm
I remember this one. I really love how versatile your elephant is and adore the fun and jibe of the poem. Thanks for luring me back. 😉
January 10, 2012 at 8:06 pm
Ha. Well, sorry to make you repeat. Yours really deals with surrealism! I’ve very mixed feelings about that style. K.
January 10, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Oh goodness, don’t apologize. I don’t always leave comments (foolishly have too many blogs I try to keep up with), so you had no way of knowing. I’d actually intended to come back and do a better job reading this one … so now I have. 😀