A Convergence Of Birds (16 page)

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Dear Joseph,

As to death, I have no secrets, no wisdom—nor would you ask me for such—but concerning your question of whether my poems paved the way for me, for my own dying, I can say the following: It was a terror I was primed for, if you will. Make no mistake, the act was no duplication of my conjurings on paper, but the imagination served to prepare, at least prepare the mind, for radical departure, and yet it could not, could it? Paper preparation is a flimsy one—as if having lain on one’s bed could truly prepare one to lie in one’s coffin!

Death was a country that I had climbed to, not toward, on a ladder of words, each word a tenuous rung—but at the topmost rung, understand, there was no true arrival; there was still up to look to, and so I did, surrounded by a vast fog. But this cloud (or shroud) did not oppress me; I was somehow not startled or disturbed to have it staring in all its immensity at my face.

But now I understand that we were face to face, that fog and I: having long gazed upon it, I finally recognize the mysterious face of the auctioneer of parting.

This I can describe, more easily, I think, than those fears or griefs which caught me unawares—the turning away of certain others, the changes within the household. Faith casts its beam so forcefully, univocally, on the ultimate, on life’s final problem-solving, that one somehow… is equipped, whereas the smaller… merely emotional matters, quite paradoxically, might elude one, make one to feel at sea? Then compounding such confusion were the deaths of loved ones. But now, despite the inspiration for your—my—Blue Peninsula being a three-sided sea, I feel the serenity of being, rather, “at sky.” As a small token of gratitude for that serenity, I will leave you with a line or two of poetry.

Estranged from Beauty-none can be

For Beauty is Infinity

And I must tell you something further, kindred spirit, brother, friend. Here in the white expanse of the Blue Peninsula, every plank in reason falls and makes no sound, and is no longer needed, as if descending into deepest softest Amherst snow.

Joseph Cornell

UNTITLED {HABITAT}

1942

13.125 x 10 x 3.5 in.

box construction

Rosmarie Waldrop

Orion, the hunter, high over my head; the Dog Star follows him through the night even though his legend is different, monstrous, two-headed. Victorian dress no safeguard against excess or waning empire. Nor can we be sure the story accurately represents the underlying power lines. A single pigeon cooing on the roof, a phallus in the void; I didn’t know, she whispers, what time of day, already dark, and if my feet went to his house all by themselves.

When history is emblematic,1 the course of ruin can be put in reverse or in the sky. A frantic innocence: a flock of doves: the virgin Pleiades. Though the abolishment of capitalism is not inevitable, fireflies next time. As if he couldn’t understand, she whispers, heart in my throat, seafoam, feather on the floor, foot fetish, common-sense skin, owl or measuring eye.2

But the gridwork is fragile, the constellations a trick of perspective, the idea of sleep replaced by sleepiness. I prefer local intervals in ideology. And if not innocence, at least the taste of clear cold water as it comes from under the rocks. The encounter with Einstein never took place, she whispers, throat constricted, head tossed back toward the dark green feathered beauty, brought compass, sea salt, licorice, solar set, and the layered pink of the untitled palace, but forgot the question must be stated exhaustively.

This compulsion to connect the dots into story, meaning, and insomnia. The body says “I” all by itself, and history’s a mishap in the statistics. Yet the obliteration of constellations by the same act that formed them is almost as radical a shock as the invention of “realism.”3 Complex, the relation between social fact and after-sex beauty, she whispers, painful secret, unusual effect, the eye in the peacock feather wet with tears, is “real”4 a meaningful concept?

Joseph Cornell

A PARROT FOR JUAN GRIS

Winter 1953-54

17.75 x 12.1875 x 4.625 in.

box construction

1 with utmost nakedness

2 partition particles

3 the dial turns, the yellow painted sun has set, a single pigeon on the roof

4 no known address

Robert Pinsky

Air an instrument of the tongue,

The tongue an instrument

Of the body. The body

An instrument of spirit,

The spirit a being of the air.

The bird a medium of song.

Song a microcosm, a containment

Like the fresh hotel room, ready

For each new visitor to inherit

A little world of time there.

In the Cornell box, among

Ephemera as its element,

The preserved bird—a study

In spontaneous elegy, the parrot

Art, mortal in its cornered sphere.

Joseph Cornell

AVIARY {PARROT MUSIC BOX} n.d.

18.625 x 16.1875 x 5 in.

box construction

Lydia Davis

IN THE FAMILY HOME of the Baker Carpet Cleaning Company family, the box with many compartments containing the mother’s heteroclite collection, waterfalls, plants, a plethora of furniture, vases, clocks, lamps, birds appearing and reappearing in motifs in the furniture and china as though alive, rapid heartbeats, Florida room, California room, Florida mug with flamingoes, the Philosophy of Fire, and the two coincided, in a moment as magical for me as, a television inset in a stone wall, a niche for a vase in a stone wall, a safe behind the back of the niche, a secret switch, a gas fireplace inset in a stone wall, objects valued for themselves, not to enhance or furnish the interior of the home but the opposite, the house extended to make room for the objects, the house too small for the objects, objects everywhere, crowded in, packed in, in a corner of an enclosed porch were many small and large china dogs, one china dog life-size next to a real dog, the real dog fat as a barrel, she has complicatedly conserved them as simply as she can, these elements of her experience, so specific, the heart of their value or the reason for their value often invisible to the general eye, the story of their finding often and readily told, explaining their value, and so long as I have these surprises, omens, five turkey vultures in a bare tree early in the morning before their first disturbance, like a doll’s house furnished or overfurnished, filled or overfilled, the family home of Baker’s Carpet Cleaning which has been in business 40 years, 800 lamps, vases, copper pots and pans, Teddy Roosevelt’s grandfather clock, from the Psalm of David throughout, let their way be dark and slippery, they have hid for me their net in a pit, flocks of starling’s passing overhead at dusk with only a luft luft sound of their wings, light GIANT BLUE candles, behold how good and how pleasant it is, profusion within a frame, profusion within the bounds of the house of the Baker Carpet Cleaning family, a book too within the bounds of the covers, the box of the book, the content of the book which is the fruit of concentration, condensation, of heteroclite elements, The Master Book of Candle Burning, the mother Baker’s offering of a profusion of sumptuous dessert foods, cheesecake, chocolate cake, small foamy pies, chocolate candies, coming in a state of perfection magically from her kitchen, plate after plate for only a handful of guests, one family of three of large stature, one family of three of smaller stature, one old couple dressed in their Sunday best, and this is Sunday, later a pair of men, followers of the Philosophy of Fire, in the bibliography Man and His Motives, Popular Amusements and Superstitions of the Highlanders of Scotland, the kitchen looking out on the dining table on which sits a priceless Tiffany lamp, to the right is the copper collection hanging against the fieldstone wall, how can I burn candles, neologists and others who should be in a position to know, it is in the mother’s house that you will see all these wonderful things, things that the mother recognized as wonderful, worth so many thousands or hundreds of dollars, of $$$, at first appearing to be plain, low-priced items, of magnificent value now recognized, out of the crowds and hosts of low-priced items at a flea market or a yard sale, a low-value vase, a low-value lamp, an ebony carving, the grandfather clock of Teddy Roosevelt, which is the star attraction, in Scotland to ward off witches, among the Parisees by a newborn baby, fire temples on a hilltop and the faithful worshiped in the open air and licked up the water that was in the trench, many people keep a vigil light burning constantly in their homes, all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made, Sunday is yellow, Monday white, Tuesday red, Wednesday purple, Thursday blue, Friday green, Saturday black, In the Shadow of the Bush, she rakes out the fire and drenches it with water, she then cuts off her hair, a crossed condition, Weed of Misfortune Brand Candle, Confusion Brand Oil, White Power Brand Candle, Domination Brand Oil, they are as stubble before the wind and as chaff that the storm carrieth away, sputtering candle a prediction of misfortune, the energy and intensity of these Bakers, mother and son, their glistening eyes, their enthusiasm leading and serving heteroclite handfuls of guests walking with respect from room to room, slow, gingerly, their eyes stopped at each packed cabinet, a clock-lined, clock-topped chest, an inlaid chest, a room full of ebony, the father before his death was the builder, the father built walls of stone, made a fountain to run down the wall of the old living room, the first living room, then the mother wanted a larger fountain, and the father built another living room onto the back, right around the backyard barbecue fireplace, turning that into a hearth, and built a larger fountain now surrounded by a host and crowd of illuminated plants beyond an ebony wild pig, an ebony boar discovered at a flea market when the mother spied the one tusk sticking out from under a truck, the boar was offered for $50, worth so many hundreds of $$$ now, if two leaves of Basil are placed upon a candle and burn away quietly the marriage will be happy, manufacturers of automobiles, cosmetics, dresses, etc. use colors which please and soothe, this leaning toward a color, Astral Colors, these would be your PRIMARY CANDLES, available in authentic Astral Colors, an exaggeration of any house for ordinary living though they do live here, or just the mother lives here, so many seats, so many cupboards, more than one living room, so many cups, dishes, pictures, sofas, chairs, tables, splayed legs, drawers, leaves, knobs, aprons, whatnots, drop-leaves, crosspieces, pins, butt hinges, clocks, cockleshells, cabriole legs, acanthus leaves, palmettes, splats, volutes, arm stumps, S-scrolls, vases, plants, crystal, stone walls, carpets, so much glass, profusion, proliferation, around every corner more profusion, their eyes stopped, their eyes resting here, there, high, low, Gold (Yellow) the Color of Attraction, Magnetic Hypnotic, Captivating, Drawing, Fascinating, Persuasive, Charming, Alluring, Cheerfulness, applications for Fire Worship based upon research by no less an authority than W.S. Blackman, in this era of modern homes it is not practical to utilize open altar fires, to Learn the Truth, to Relieve Pressure by an Enemy, some time ago I heard of the account of a young woman who felt pangs of Fear, she had so many doubts about her ability to keep a job, to keep her husbands love, she felt that she was being harassed by unseen, hidden forces, out of his holy hill, Selah, the lifter up of my head, thou has smitten all my enemies upon the cheekbone, thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly, ninety percent have amatory difficulties, try this, a small supply of Frankincense and Myrrh, one candle of each color should be lighted each morning before going to look for a job, the law of Moses permitted altars of either clay and earth or of stone, ALWAYS USE VEGETABLE OIL CANDLES, the first man is of the earth earthy, as is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy, as we know, there is but one true Altar, and that is our HEART, his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail, the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, set aside a place in the home that is quiet, attic, basement, playroom, bedroom, spare room, a beautiful altar of which you can be proud, many people believe that all that is necessary is to procure a candle of the right color and light it and then every dream and wish will come true, it is not as easy as all that, FIERY WALL of PROTECTION brand OIL, DOVE’S BLOOD brand OIL, BIBLE brand OIL, COMPELLING brand OIL, INFLAMMATORY CONFUSION brand OIL, dressed with UNCROSSING brand OIL, 30 minutes each evening before retiring, the use of SYMBOL candles is strictly an American custom prevalent in certain of our Southern States but now also found in Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and many cities and towns between, molded in the shape of an animal, such as a cat or lion, in order to understand the symbolism involved it is necessary to go to the Dark Continent, strange and weird rites of African Medicine Men, the accomplishments of these individuals, the story of the brutal Congo trader, the native workmen, unable to endure it longer, sent one of their number, the idol in question was still on the dresser but THE HEAD HAD BEEN SNAPPED OFF!, the mother saw the value of them within their form apparently of low value, bergere, cabriolet, recamier, canape, settee, club chair, chesterfield, the mother went with a girlfriend to the field of stones to find the right stones and bring them home, they made many trips at dawn, the father built, the mother and father went to the old buildings in the city as they were being torn down and went inside to buy pieces of the old buildings, an iron-work partition, a neutral tone the color of pale coffee is said to be the most desirable, CONFUSION brand OIL, each day a chapter of the Song of Solomon will be read with all candles burning, although war is perhaps the most ungodlike expression of the human race and is in itself an irreligious activity, during Time of War, in short, he is King to his Queen in the Kingdom of his Home, but when a man is called to war there is a definite letdown, those remaining behind turn their faces heavenward seeking Calmness and Dynamic Power, those who follow the Philosophy of Fire have delved deep into historical archives, half-forgotten practices of the Ancient Zoroastrians, though a nominally peaceful people, did have their wars, he would guide his spirit to Paradise where it would forever be engaged in the conflict with evil and the ultimate victory of Ahura-Mazda, in the center is placed a GIANT EVERLASTING TYPE CANDLE, an even larger candle is available that weighs 13 pounds and burns for TWO YEARS, CONQUERING GLORY brand OIL, the following verses are read either by the soldier or by someone whom he designates, fight against them that fight against me, let their way be dark and slippery, they have hid for me their net in a pit which without cause they have digged, neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without cause, against them that are quiet in the land, the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments, for about 500 days (or nearly 1 year), some tantalizing vision of some happier hunting ground, the novitiate will at first stumble upon many obstacles unless he or she first acquaints himself with certain fundamentals of the Art, the Rituals can be a delightful occasion or a confused muddle, a hopeless waste of time, the guests that are invited are customers of the Carpet Cleaning Company, who have had their carpets cleaned by them, they come into the house shyly, it is especially beautiful at Christmastime, because of all the Christmas decorations and the special arrangements of the mother, who has fashioned little snowy scenes involving miniature fir trees and figures skating in circles on glass lakes, penguins or little men and women, who do not stop going round and round while the guests walk through and stop to sit and talk and eat cake, or sit at the bar and eat chips and nuts and drink an alcoholic drink, the guests are dressed nicely, it is Sunday, the house is a single-storied ranch house among other ranch houses on small plots on a street called Pine Street, immediately inside the front door is Teddy Roosevelt’s grandfather clock and following it the ebony room, ebony table, ebony cabinets, little sculptures of ebony, value is high in $$$ but those $$$ are for reasons of historical interest and fine workmanship, no deviation was permitted, it is now realized that they must be modified and adapted to meet the needs of individuals living in a fast-moving world, the Zoroastrians could not go out to a corner store, available from reliable Supply Houses, SPARK of SUSPICION brand Candle (Brown), RADIANT HEALTH (Red), WEALTHY WAY (Green), GLOW of ATTRACTION (Gold or Yellow), BENEFICIAL DREAM (Lavender), SATAN-BE-GONE (Orchid), LADY LUCK (Gold), WEED of MISFORTUNE (Black), when you order from your dealer always give your date of birth and let him select your Astral Candle for you, with such branded candles you just cannot go wrong, of the HAND FIXED TYPE, many people start each new ritual for each new purpose with an entirely new set of candles and this truly is the most logical procedure to follow for it insures an altar of outstanding beauty and dignity, if a Blue used candle that had been dressed with a particular oil were reused later for another purpose the symbolism would be lost because of the improper dressing, purchase one of the Basic Candle Burning kits, the guests do not know one another, they are introduced and sometimes talk to one another, but are not expected to talk and are free to stand and eat a piece of cake off a plate or to keep wandering, a billiard table around in back of the stone hearth, a secretary desk, an escritoire, an ebony serving man, an ebony black serving man, meridienne, banquette, pouf, ottoman, ear, stile, cross rail, stretcher, cross stretcher, crinoline stretcher, cornice, top rail, diamond point, hanging stile, bracket base, frieze, frame stile, the value is in their being what they are, not in their meanings, door panel, peg, chiffonier, column, bobeche, globe, tureen, every cause has its effect, the blackness of night offsets the light of day, certain cults of mad adventurers who attempted to rule the people, these religious racketeers, the infamous Black Mass, degraded nature and base hideousness, for example, muddy brown-green, greenish yellow, purple red, very dark brown, midnight blue, black, etc., all such Magic is based on the Law of Sympathy, ran a needle through his head, or where the heart would be located in reality, wax from a deserted bee’s comb, if a hunter drives a nail into the footprint of an animal, a dirt highway winding twelve miles, when his feet were wrapped in his coat he was WALKING ON HIS OWN PROPERTY, Darkest Africa, missing things of a most personal nature, Dame Fortune seemed to frown upon his every activity, a rival had taken the things, robes worn by ancient priests, etc., in this position was placed a clipped piece of sock, glove, shirt, hair, toothbrush bristles, evil influence dominates the scene, Master of his own Destiny, said to give off depressing vibrations, BRING CONFUSION OR TO EXERT PRESSURE ON ONE’S ENEMIES, Midnight Blue Inflammatory Confusion brand Candles, move candles closer to the center each day, WHEN TWO ARE IN LOVE WITH THE SAME PERSON AND THE STUDENT WISHES TO ELIMINATE THE RIVAL, Glow of Attraction brand Candle, when two people are after the same job, Green Crown of Success
brand Candle dressed with Crown of Success brand Oil instead of the Glow of Attraction brand Candle, to be read: the 93rd Psalm, platter, rim bowl, creamer, ramekin, pepperpot, saltcellar, gravy boat, pitcher, jug, blade, bolster, ferrule, point, slot, prong, root, your author has dug deeply, everything new in it is old and everything old in it is new (animal fat excepted), a folly like Hearst Castle, like the Winchester House, this can be a highly subjective (personal) business & yet a means of attempting expression of communication, water running down the wall, a couch formed of concrete, these seven fundamental rules are simple and easy to follow, the more progressive individual may create his own particular symbolism, early and late the appreciation of the acquirer was the desired reward, each guest was given a pretty-colored gift bag upon departing, containing a white unglazed ceramic Cupid for an adult, a bright chrome car for a child, from the yard to the porch to the kitchen, said Joseph, don’t think we’re working on my work, fixing lunch, raking, banking, running to town, Bohack’s, after a while they took their lunch and tea breaks together, they enjoy a wide sale among reliable Supply Houses, so noble a custom, TO SETTLE A DISTURBED CONDITION IN THE HOME, Peaceful Home brand, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, first o’week coming upon an abandoned house with no KEEP OUT signs, it is on a main artery but protected by a hedge, unlike the side (open) approach, a smashed-up commonplace affair but an intriguing challenge, not one of the older places, TO OBTAIN MONEY, mine own familiar friend which did eat of my bread hath lifted up his heel against me, TO WIN THE LOVE OF MAN OR WOMAN, in position x may be placed a photo of the loved one if one is available, a mixture of Frankincense and Myrrh may be burned, TO CONQUER FEAR, Crucible of Courage brand Candle, Psalm 31 in its entirety, be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me, pull me out of the net that they have laid, thou hast considered my trouble, thou hast set my feet in a large room, I was a reproach, I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind, thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion, and the proud doer, sit with Joseph in the back yard, many times he would eat a meal consisting entirely of desserts, I know these things, but it is not necessary to know them to enjoy the postcard, Rockefeller Center, Christian Science, TO CHANGE ONE’S LUCK, Astral Candle of person who is object of wrath, Spark of Suspicion candle dressed with DOMINATION brand OIL, ORCHID Candle or Satan-be-Gone candle dressed with UNCROSSING brand OIL, Conquering Glory candles, collecting loved or desired things and putting them together in some kind of order within a frame, or excess, or jumble, lumber room, disregard position A as this applies to Exercise 17 only, each evening for 15 days or until satisfied, time and again, beehive forests and thimble gardens, as skillful as he was, the recipients, he did not share the accepted conception of the limitations of time, the past for him was not something that continually receded, it was as available as the present, home poor heart, marvelous and ordinary, available in 14 colors, note the two-color effect and speckles, available in authentic colors, TO HEAL AN UNHAPPY MARRIAGE, Astral Candle of husband dressed, Astral Candle of wife dressed, Fire of Love candle, should be moved two inches daily in direction of arrows, the Song of Solomon, TO OVERCOME A BAD HABIT, to symbolize the bad habit undressed, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net, what she thinks is valuable, what may be valuable and what may be worthless, cheap, ugly, or valuable, worth a great deal, beautiful, or valuable only to her and her family because they are her creation, the skaters on the pond made out of a mirror, skating over a magnet and a motor, or what is valuable to more than one, to many, to the world, two inches daily in direction of arrows, repeat until satisfied, TO STOP SLANDER, Candle of Petitioner, before retiring until satisfied, FIERY WALL of Protection, Mandrake root in a saucer or incense burner, thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel, if the Success deals with MONEY use GREEN Candle or WEALTHY WAY, FORTUNATE DREAMS—Lavender or Beneficial Dream, in his yard bunny statues wandered, organic matter moved itself along but he tended to the decay of organic matter, pound cake was brought to harden in the sun, pears became softer and softer and more liquid by the day, it does not pay, it was not intended to pay, its air, full of music, is a fog that turns from brown to yellow, from yellow to white, sunrise and sunset, his hours, compounded of foreign woods, the impetus was delight, gifts without the recipients knowing their origins, Red Candles or Radiant Health dressed with Crucible of Courage Oil, TO LEARN THE TRUTH, TO BRING CONFUSION TO ANOTHER WHO IS THOUGHT TO HAVE CAUSED UNFAVORABLE VIBRATIONS, let them be turned backward, let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha, TO BREAK UP A LOVE AFFAIR, and he heard me out of his holy hill, BLACK Crucifix Candles dressed with XX Double Cross brand Oil, Red Candle UNDRESSED to symbolize sterility or barrenness, DO NOT move candle 4, thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly, TO SOOTHE AND QUIET THE NERVES, Astral Candle of person in nervous condition, the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs, they shall consume, into smoke shall they consume away, the Psalm should be read slowly and with careful attention and should be accompanied by a state of calm meditation, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way