Christian Jensen
Fleur-du-flambe
(ode to Rene Magritte)
Tidy men
hail from the sky
like polished ice
delicate structure compressed
heated, frozen and reheated
bred on 2 minute meals
like statues of wool and cotton white
wrapped in freshly ironed black
falling from the clash
of cold and hot clouds
whispy white coils boil in a heavy damp knot
They better bend their knees
the asphalt is hard and rough
against rigid Men
only broken by stubborn seeds
Christian Jensen writes: “The poem ‘Fleur-du-Flambe’ was written in reflection of a painting called ‘Golconde’ (1953) by Rene Magritte. The inspiration for the poem came from Mark Young and his series ‘Magritte’. It was written shortly after meeting Mark Young in Auckland, where I had the pleasure of going through his archived Tapa notebook with him. In a way this poem could be seen as an ode to Mark Young.”