A Tiny Man Balances an Elephant on his Back

A Tiny Man Balances an Elephant on his Back

1

they use a map of the stars
for brain surgery

but don’t worry
the hunter’s belt is only for

salt water, grandmothers
walking

2

the world is lobster flesh
an elephant balanced

on the back of a tiny man
I feel so naked when

I am naked
what is in the man’s pockets?

3

if the brain is sky
then hair is god

or a thousand gods
time a light breeze

ruffling and tousling
the bald world

4

in the man’s pockets
elephants so tiny

they are dust
a kind of perceptual snuff

if the air were skin
there’d be birds

sometimes
when I sat down

my starlings would hurt
with grief


5

pincers in
the brain

twilight: the trunks of two
elephants intertwined

breathing slowly
wrapped in rubber bands

a smear of starlight
ursa minor

pegasus
cancer

______________________________________
After the sculpture (pictured above) of Fabien Mérelle