A Night at the Huntington Museum of Art

1 Glass Sculpture in Tropic of Koi

Yellow, green, and blue spirals –

Blown glass pond-tree

Mirrored in the water over

Lazily swimming Koi.

Seat facing pond, with

Air moist and warm – tropical,

Foggy moisture on the windows,

On a cold night in April.

2 Death by Design

Forged barrel, machined and polished, with

Firing mechanism patiently assembled from cast and smith-forged

Screws, springs, clamp-jaws to hold flint, ram-rod, and trigger,

Mounted on hand-carved, oiled and buffed mahogany,

With brass trim, waiting only powder and a musket ball,

And an eye to target victims and prey.

Hand-crafted, forged, machined death by design.

3 Form of the Vase

Elegant curves, from the lip of its opening

down its short neck to its Ming Dynasty,

reminiscent body, full below the neck

and tapered down to its base, an eternity below,

with images of flora and water flowing over

its surface and down to the floor, in hues of

blue and green in dappled patterns,

reminiscent of a tropical forest.

–LE

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