by
John Gallaher
He was a sociable
yet private sort of person, and a variety
of other subjects.
Like such severely rectilinear
buildings, for one.
And their solitariness
fosters a sort of
inwardness. At least that's what
he says, interested
as he is in such things. The
impressions of his
evening in New Haven
never left him. The
sounds of people are
comforting, Robin
says. You outta get yer eyes
examined, she
continues. The rug's composed
of angles and
counterangles that accentuate the crisp
verticles of the
blue, purple, and beige couch. The
mysterious lump in
the drapes is their other cat, Henry.
It's a long story.
I'll remind you next time it's appropriate.
Meet me out at the
reflecting pool, and bring that
da Vinci manuscript.
That, and how have you felt about me
since Tuesday? His
attitudes and gestures have a convincing
naturalism. The
second cat is Dixie, making noises
in the guest room.
If there's a companionship between them
it's implicit or
otherwise subtle. We also find interest in such
archival subjects as
children at play, restaurants, and candles.
However, there are
differences. At rest, each draws back
into a
self-contained world. The soft glow through
the sheers lends
further warmth to this engaging theme.
Typical figures were
the mail carrier and getting in
and out of cars.
Within the boundaries of the office
are a number of
vignettes. The lacy foliage of silhouetted
trees, for one. My
own impressions don't go so far,
Robin says. There
are some letters for you on the stand.
Correspondence, as
you like to call it. Any note
in the entire gamut
of this mood may be struck. The coffee cup
on the one side and
the long low bench on the other
make up the bottom
and one side of a stable
pyramidal
composition, going by way of disappearance.
Originally published
in FENCE