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Ortolans
by Rachel Galvin
Speaking of blindness, the man told his one-eyed fiancée,
have you heard about the ortolans? Fig-peckers of yellowhammer
descent. Thumb-sized or tongue-sized. Kings used to catch them
at summer’s end, knife-blind them so that in their darkness
they’d feast on millet all day, all night, a break from beetles and seeds,
until they grew from one ounce to four. Drowned
in Armagnac, plucked, placed in a saucepan, roasted,
you eat them whole, so the head dangles between your lips,
crunch bones like hazelnuts, underneath the linen napkin
you must place over your head to create a scent tent
or, so God won’t see your shame. (Proust paired
them with sips of Yquem, a sauterne born of noble
rot — grapes like ashes, their wet dried
in the nick of time, so honeysuckle turns to bitter
finish.) Mediterranean salt emerges as flight bursts
in your mouth. Imagine yourself a memory, a body full
of meal, as Mitterrand must have, eating ortolans
eight days before dying, his last illegal act. Fifteen minutes
of savoring a supple, burning ball of fat until you exhaust
its roast juices. When you finally swallow, you will regret
the end of a sensual experience. At least once in your life,
you must pay the price for this princely folly
Source: Poetry (December 2014)
[via CarPeo email]
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It began as the GODFATHER OF MATH, evolved into the GOODFATHER OF MATH. Now this. Go figure...
The kind of humor I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think for ten minutes = G. CARLIN...Stain glass, engraved glass, frosted glass
–give me plain glass = JOHN FOWLES ... Music is the mathematics of the gods=PYTHAGORAS ... Nothing is more fluid than language = R. L. SWIHART
I cannot live without the oxygen of laughter = DAWN POWELL ... !!! ... But laughter cannot survive without the hydrogen of gravitas = PAUL OLIVERIO
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I am Anonymous Art Critic #19
ReplyDeletebut you can call me Lemme Askya:
If I "must pay for this princely folly"
can I do so on the installment plan?
This is A.A.C. #19.5
DeleteI am Gunna Telya:
YES!
To quote the Lemme:
DeleteGunna is my better half
who always makes me laugh
Her CommenTIME
a.m.
be
1: 30
Up from bed she leap
Dahling, go back to sleep!
Lemme
DeleteYou sound like a fun couple.
Is she always so mono-syllabic?
Most of the time YES
Deleteunless she is saying things like
"There is no monosyllabic way to say the word monosyllabic."
Did she like Rachel Galvin's poem?
DeleteYesYesYes
DeleteYes Yes Yes
But she prefers her Proust with Madelines.
There is a recipe for tofu Ortolans,
ReplyDeleteWhich is like mauling a teddy bear.
From Teu Cuette
Teu Cuette, in all of your cuteness & tofu-nity...
ReplyDeleteThe 37 Anonymous Art Critic Society
will welcome yr Ortolan comment.
Would you like to join the Society?
If yes, will you please pick a number.
YES
ReplyDelete35
Here I am again:
DeleteLemme Askya (a/k/a Lemme Telya) says:
Hello to you TEU CUETTE
You remind me of my wife, only smarter
due, probably to your tofu experience...
Tofu is for everyone,
including the cute birds of Ortoleo...
Mr. Askya/Telya
DeleteDo you feel, as a married man,
that this is a proper place
for flirting, all cuteness
notwithstanding?
Mr. Oliverio
DeleteA proper place is anywhere I am
Til we meet again...
Sincerely,
Lemme Telya
Astonishing how Mr. Oliverid is jealous of Mr. Olivego.
ReplyDeleteMs. Teu C?