Prelude to Cornell by Kathleen Wilson "Home, Poor Heart, You Cannot Rediscover If The Dream Alone Does Not Suffice", Hoelderlin (collage on masonite, Joseph Cornell, 1963)
on the walk
to his exhibit
I'm already
set into his box
(tiny shells
tinfoil
wooden balls
love letters)
a flower
in my hair
he's plucked
a mirrored past
(tinted glass
North of the Sea
colored sands
starry maps)
above my head a branch
from sidewalk tree
and perched doves
in a line
collaged woman with entrance ticket
up the stairs
her constellation pen and poem
"Now Voyager
sail thou forth
to seek
and find."
--Whitman, Leaves of Grass 1871
12/29/2007 Author's Note: from San Francisco, a prelude to the Cornell poems
Posted on 12/30/2007 Copyright © 2024 Kathleen Wilson
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