Apparitions in a Lemon Grove
In this series of gallery paintings, we see
Rene Magritte strolling between rows of trees,
Sketch paper under one arm, easel on
His back; around him stands a plotted
Grove of lemon trees growing between
A beach shell road and the Mediterranean
Shore—he shoves hIs easel deep in soil
And works quick—draws, sketches in hope
Of getting on paper the unique designs
He visualizes and senses in the trees.
The images he wants most are those
Of fantasy animals—ones he’s seen
In clouds above the Rub-al-Khali, or Chile’s
Atacama, or the steamy forests of Marajo
Island. In the succulent leaves and boughs
And arcing trees—he sees heads of parrots
And diving hawks with bodies of tigers,
Or crocodile tails. He turns down another
Sandy row but pauses at the dramatic
Sight of a galloping horse with branching
Pegasus wings. Asking himself: what are
The implications of animals manifesting
Their images in trees such as these? Do
Designs show souls of fossilized animals
Caught in a time warp? Animals gone extinct
Millions of years before dinosaurs? Or does
He sense future forms of animals thrown
Into the present in a reverse time warp?
Birds and mammals that will appear on earth
Millions of years after the thin page of human
History has eroded into the salty, coral sand
Of the French Rivera? Magritte’s fevered
Mind ponders such obsessive questions
Of metaphysics, but he knows he must hurry,
For the light and the twilight fades fast here
At latitude 43—little time remains to record
The menagerie of fantastical birds roosting
In a citrus grove, so he dumps his easel and
Quick-photographs with his I-phone. Magritte
Knows the day’s viewing is a once-in-a-life-
Time event—he knows that with tomorrow’s
Dawning light, the animal spirits that roosted
For a night in the grove will fly on over
The sea to join the transient clouds and
Evolve into new designs before returning
Another season to roost in evergreen trees.
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