{"id":358,"date":"2024-02-28T18:47:27","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T00:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/?post_type=product&#038;p=358"},"modified":"2025-09-05T12:14:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T17:14:50","slug":"glamourous-life","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/product\/glamourous-life","title":{"rendered":"Glamourous Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>by Michele Madigan Somerville<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<style>\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t#tab_container_357 {\r\n\toverflow:hidden;\r\n\tdisplay:block;\r\n\twidth:100%;\r\n\tborder:0px solid #ddd;\r\n\tmargin-bottom:30px;\r\n\t}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_357 .tab-content{\r\n\tpadding:20px;\r\n\tborder: 1px solid #e6e2cc !important;\r\n\tmargin-top: 0px;\r\n\tbackground-color:#fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tcolor: #000000 !important;\r\n\tfont-size:16px !important;\r\n\tfont-family: Open Sans !important;\r\n\t\r\n\t\tborder: 1px solid #e6e2cc !important;\r\n\t}\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs {\r\n    border-bottom: 0px solid #ddd;\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li.active > a, #tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li.active > a:hover, #tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li.active > a:focus {\r\n\tcolor: #000000 !important;\r\n\tcursor: default;\r\n\tbackground-color: #fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tborder: 1px solid #e6e2cc !important;\r\n}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a {\r\n    margin-right: 0px !important; \r\n    line-height: 1.42857143 !important;\r\n    border: 1px solid #ece8d2 !important;\r\n    border-radius: 0px 0px 0 0 !important; \r\n\tbackground-color: #fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tcolor: #000000 !important;\r\n\tpadding: 15px 18px 15px 18px !important;\r\n\ttext-decoration: none !important;\r\n\tfont-size: 14px !important;\r\n\ttext-align:center !important;\r\n\tfont-family: Open Sans !important;\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:focus {\r\noutline: 0px !important;\r\n}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:before {\r\n\tdisplay:none !important;\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:after {\r\n\tdisplay:none !important ;\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li{\r\npadding:0px !important ;\r\nmargin:0px;\r\n}\r\n\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:hover , #tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a:focus {\r\n    color: #000000 !important;\r\n    background-color: #fffbe5 !important;\r\n\tborder: 1px solid #ece8d2 !important;\r\n\t\r\n}\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li > a .fa{\r\n\r\nmargin-right:5px !important;\r\n\r\nmargin-left:5px !important;\r\n\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n\t\t#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs a{\r\n\t\t\tbackground-image: none;\r\n\t\t\tbackground-position: 0 0;\r\n\t\t\tbackground-repeat: repeat-x;\r\n\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\r\n\r\n#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li {\r\n    float: left;\r\n    margin-bottom: -1px !important;\r\n\tmargin-right:0px !important; \r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n#tab_container_357 .tab-content{\r\noverflow:hidden !important;\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n@media (min-width: 769px) {\r\n\r\n\t#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li{\r\n\t\tfloat:left !important ;\r\n\t\t\t\tmargin-right:-1px !important;\r\n\t\t\t\t\t}\r\n\t#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs{\r\n\t\tfloat:none !important;\r\n\t\tmargin:0px !important;\r\n\t}\r\n\r\n\t#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li {\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t}\r\n\t#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav{\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n@media (max-width: 768px) {\r\n\t#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li {\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t}\r\n\t#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav{\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n}\r\n\r\n\r\n\t.wpsm_nav-tabs li:before{\r\n\t\tdisplay:none !important;\r\n\t}\r\n\r\n\t@media (max-width: 768px) {\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t.wpsm_nav-tabs{\r\n\t\t\tmargin-left:0px !important;\r\n\t\t\tmargin-right:0px !important; \r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t\t#tab_container_357 .wpsm_nav-tabs > li{\r\n\t\t\tfloat:none !important;\r\n\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t}\t\t\t\t<\/style>\r\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"tab_container_357\" >\r\n\t \r\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"wpsm_nav wpsm_nav-tabs\" role=\"tablist\" id=\"myTab_357\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li role=\"presentation\"  class=\"active\"  onclick=\"do_resize()\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#tabs_desc_357_1\" aria-controls=\"tabs_desc_357_1\" role=\"tab\" data-toggle=\"tab\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Overview<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li role=\"presentation\"  onclick=\"do_resize()\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#tabs_desc_357_2\" aria-controls=\"tabs_desc_357_2\" role=\"tab\" data-toggle=\"tab\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Excerpts<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/ul>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t  <!-- Tab panes -->\r\n\t\t\t\t\t  <div class=\"tab-content\" id=\"tab-content_357\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div role=\"tabpanel\" class=\"tab-pane  in active \" id=\"tabs_desc_357_1\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: left\">If you are heartsick, resisting, spiritually riled, a sinner with a sense of humor, a M.I.L.F or somebody\u2019s child, Michele Madigan Somerville is definitely the poet for you.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u2014Jill Eisenstadt<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Michele Madigan Somerville\u2019s\u00a0<em>Glamorous Life<\/em>\u00a0catechizes issues that aggravate our care\u2014addiction, feminism, masculinity, motherhood, religion, sex, and violence. She digresses our divine milieu like a graffiti-covered train rambling over and under neighborhoods, revealing wildly complex economic and ethnic strata, progressing through time emerging miraculously new. While these streetwise poems conversate they surreptitiously dissipate male thunder.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u2014Greg Fuchs<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">\u201cIt\u2019s a fine line between Iggy Pop and Jesus,\u201d and Madigan Somerville takes us on a grand cosmic ride on that fine line between the divine and the sacred. Along that ride, Madigan Somerville never loses her sense of humor and never stops having fun. Like all epic poets before her, she flexes her formidable poetic muscles in fearlessly lush language, infusing this collection with a sweeping grandeur of the full length opera as well as the hilarity of burlesque, in which the cast of characters from Cleopatra to Paul Newman struts in a Felliniesque procession, and Love \u2013 both cosmic and earthly \u2013 is revealed in all its fierce and lusty splendor. The poems in this book are a rare combination of grace, passion, joy, kindness and generosity that reminds us of how miraculous life can be.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u2014Joanna Sit<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><strong><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-355 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Michele-Madigan-Somerville-headshot.jpg\" alt=\"Michele Madigan Somerville headshot\" width=\"200\" height=\"250\" \/>Michele Madigan Somerville<\/strong> is the author of two previous books of verse,\u00a0<em>Black Irish<\/em>\u00a0and the book-length poem,\u00a0<em>WISEGAL<\/em>. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Brooklyn College, and recently earned a Master of Theology Studies at Harvard Divinity School. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.<strong>\r\n<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div role=\"tabpanel\" class=\"tab-pane \" id=\"tabs_desc_357_2\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<P><strong>Limited Splendor<\/strong><BR>\r\n<BR>\r\n1<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nI was Cleopatra in a previous life.<BR>\r\nI stood at the top of the center of things<BR>\r\nwhere I surveyed the pulverized shebang<BR>\r\nfrom the heights of my palanquin<BR>\r\nthose dazzling off-shot remains of<BR>\r\nthis cosmic ornament in the wake<BR>\r\nof a 13-billion-year-old spill,<BR>\r\nhot molten heap of stars which were ours<BR>\r\nto drown out<BR>\r\nand in.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nThe voice of quantum succulence informed<BR>\r\nour sapient flesh as drums held<BR>\r\nthe rhythm gravity circumscribed.<BR>\r\nWe invented the wheel, love<BR>\r\npoems, threnody, the slide-<BR>\r\nrule. Sometimes we chased the rabbit<BR>\r\nnearly every time while<BR>\r\non other occasions<BR>\r\nwe went through the motions.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\n2,000 years later, detectives returned to the scene<BR>\r\nof the sublime, arriving almost<BR>\r\ntoo late to find anything they could<BR>\r\ndust or dismantle<BR>\r\nto good effect.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nThe button men made off with nearly<BR>\r\neverything, leaving us with zilch.<BR>\r\nThe bagmen almost beat them<BR>\r\nto the finish and punch<BR>\r\nbut the joke was on us.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\n2<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nWhile some were clubbing<BR>\r\ndinner, others did algebra.<BR>\r\nWhile some engaged in slaughter<BR>\r\nothers birthed and sang.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nOn the African continent<BR>\r\nmathematicians nosed ahead<BR>\r\nwhile the others scratched forth<BR>\r\nfrom their gym spots in the ice.<BR>\r\nChoreographed plumage skittered across alabaster.<BR>\r\nPapyrus accrued characters and neumes.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nMonuments rose. Shapely<BR>\r\nstrains and characters stained creamy<BR>\r\nweaves and pliable open fields of<BR>\r\nleaves unbound then bound again then ramifying<BR>\r\nsang creation on planes of blanched jerky<BR>\r\nwhose heat-seeking, gut-stitched seams sought light,<BR>\r\nshed light, brought light, let light \u2014<BR>\r\n<em>ut<\/em>\u00a0that and fruit got born.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\n3<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nDrums held the rhythm gravity<BR>\r\ncircumscribed. We let our money ride<BR>\r\non Spontaneous Combustion.<BR>\r\nA series of grand finales ensued<BR>\r\nwhereby everything that was<BR>\r\nbuilt to last went up in flames.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nBut mysterious champions<BR>\r\nwaited in the wings aiming<BR>\r\nto extinguish our bonfires with pee.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nNext, the light of a star stopped us in our tracks, but<BR>\r\nmost of us just said \u201cHuh?\u201d<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nSoon blood-thirsty chess pieces<BR>\r\nbearing racks and manacles<BR>\r\nleaned in, intoning the Battle Hymn<BR>\r\nof Christ the Butcher.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nThey appeared at the table.<BR>\r\nThey showed him the door.<BR>\r\nThey booted him from the temple \u2014<BR>\r\nHim and the dame he came in with.<BR>\r\nBehold, your mother, he said,<BR>\r\nwalking backwards out the door.<BR>\r\nBehold the color of a woman<BR>\r\nwho does not run.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\n4<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nDead Man walking<BR>\r\nbanged his head<BR>\r\nagainst the garden wall<BR>\r\nand cried out \u201cWhy<BR>\r\nme?\u201d The God Star raved.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\n5<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nWearing gang hues<BR>\r\ncathode and blood,<BR>\r\nwe consented<BR>\r\nto narrow our own minds.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nWe made the NFL our pantheon.<BR>\r\nWe prayed for the coming<BR>\r\nof the feely chip in our heads.<BR>\r\nWe prayed as our home-field planet<BR>\r\nRotated. We reached for revolvers.<BR>\r\nWe remanded suspects to lockup.<BR>\r\nWe traded roses for strip malls.<BR>\r\nWe paid cold, hard<BR>\r\ntender for nothing<BR>\r\nanyone really made.<BR>\r\nWe applauded the gargantuan<BR>\r\nshadow plastic cast.<BR>\r\nWe outlawed beauty, lyric, satire and scale.<BR>\r\nWe erected a tower of gold<BR>\r\nbullion to stand in our light.<BR>\r\nWe starved on a daily basis.<BR>\r\nWe nominated Greed to be our Caesar.<BR>\r\nWe blew on Hitler\u2019s dice.<BR>\r\nWe sucked<BR>\r\nup our own extinction<BR>\r\nthrough straws.<BR>\r\nThink Big<BR>\r\nGulp with added sugar and<BR>\r\na twist. Yet<BR>\r\nwhen the morning star came<BR>\r\nwe were born.<\/P>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<P><strong>Glamourous Life (Aubade)<\/strong><BR>\r\n<BR>\r\n<em>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cLiving the Dream\u201d<\/em><BR>\r\n\u2014Ramses the Great<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nI<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nI awoke to a gorgeous gamine straight out of the Renaissance,<BR>\r\na long-necked Maria beside me in bed, nosing her lustrous<BR>\r\nosculating face into mine, her mane a crimped spray<BR>\r\ncoppery, arrayed about pillows, her extremities all-<BR>\r\nencompassing, her epidermis impossibly aglow.<BR>\r\nShe was working me all right, shaking me down for food,<BR>\r\nbut I didn\u2019t mind. (It won\u2019t be long, Botticelli girl,<BR>\r\n\u2018til you\u2019re old enough to play with fire.<BR>\r\nThen you\u2019ll feed\u00a0<em>yourself<\/em>\u00a0in the morning and<BR>\r\nmake magic using beans and a French<BR>\r\npress to catalyze our early antemeridian routine!)<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nFor now I too am a big baby<BR>\r\nin the morning. I like lots of milk<BR>\r\nin my coffee and the first one best, drunk<BR>\r\nin bed. I like news! Weather! And the voice of an<BR>\r\non-air \u201cpersonality\u201d whose politics I detest.<BR>\r\nI met the handsome oaf once<BR>\r\nin the flesh. In a bookstore of all places.<BR>\r\nHe had a light heavy-<BR>\r\nweight countenance. I\u2019m a sucker for pugs.<BR>\r\nSometimes we are not the sum of our parts.<BR>\r\nSometimes the loins hold the key to the ancient city.<BR>\r\nHe\u2019s the kind of man you know<BR>\r\ncan kill with a jab, the kind who looks down<BR>\r\nthe front of your blouse when you\u2019re trying to hold<BR>\r\na conversation, but you fail to object \u2014<BR>\r\neven if you are the objecting sort \u2014<BR>\r\neven if you are intelligent and saying things he\u2019d be<BR>\r\nbetter off knowing but what do I know? But beyond that<BR>\r\nI\u2019m a sucker for man with a voice.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nNext enters the Pre-Raphaelite sister\u2014darker, smaller, a tad<BR>\r\nshorter on propriety \u2014 who enters the boudoir<BR>\r\nwith tony regal countenance followed by her biggest fan,<BR>\r\nChulito the Splendid, who chases her up onto the bed\u2014<BR>\r\nWhat a glamorous life I lead!\u00a0<em>Chaque matin,<\/em><BR>\r\na pair of sprites and boy like a god, a trinity of<BR>\r\ncupids amok, scrap amok in my midst like Huns vying<BR>\r\nfor the\u00a0<em>Grand Prix<\/em>\u00a0of my attentions.<BR>\r\nThis, as Zero Dark 6:30 dissolves<BR>\r\ninto broad daylight\u2019s escalating imperative<BR>\r\nkicks in, kicks off \u2014 O rise we must, spawn!<BR>\r\nLight is breaking, the morning is under<BR>\r\nway, and we know well the thrills won\u2019t let up<BR>\r\nuntil the chicken music stops.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nProceeding with cautious confidence<BR>\r\n, in my capacity as the Greek executioner<BR>\r\nof alimentation, I will jumpstart the skillet,<BR>\r\nget the eggs cracking. Sunnyside up,<BR>\r\nwhiskey down. Armed with spatula<BR>\r\nand whisk, I will serve short-<BR>\r\norder fare. Farmers\u2019 Breakfast, Brooklyn style.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nIn my role as Inspector of Hygiene,<BR>\r\nI will preside with the usual \u00e9lan<BR>\r\nover assembly-line ablutions with (special<BR>\r\nconcentration on fingernails and teeth).<BR>\r\n\u201cLet me smell your breath, Private!\u201d<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nAs Minister of Shodding assigned to Lost or<BR>\r\nStrategically Concealed Footwear,<BR>\r\nI will bark out orders in the tradition established<BR>\r\nby those hyper-fecund Irish bitches, my foremothers:<BR>\r\n\u201cThey didn\u2019t just get up and\u00a0<em>walk<\/em>\u00a0away.\u201d<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nAs Czar of Swaddling I shall first demand,<BR>\r\nthen register the grievance: \u201cWhere\u2019s your raincoat?\u201d<BR>\r\n\u201cI left it in the schoolyard.\u201d \u201cEvery time it rains,<BR>\r\nI\u2019m 20 bucks lighter.\u201d<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nI will harp and winge as those foremothers did<BR>\r\nat the Great Wall of Blah Blah<BR>\r\nas the sotto voce insurgence of the too<BR>\r\nclever by half freshly verbal cherubs\/primates sounds:<BR>\r\n\u201cCan\u2019t you\u00a0<em>see<\/em>\u00a0we\u2019re not even\u00a0<em>listening<\/em>?\u201d<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nLeaving oatmeal to petrify and a coffee-<BR>\r\nmilk ring to congeal \u2018round the interior<BR>\r\ncircumference of a glass. Circumnavigating<BR>\r\nflies WILL swarm over warm juice.<BR>\r\nWe can always swat, disinfect and chisel anon.<BR>\r\nOrder would be nice but it\u2019s boots on the ground<BR>\r\ntime. Operation Civilization commences at 0900 Hours,<BR>\r\nat which designated time my commission<BR>\r\nrequires that I report for duty<BR>\r\nat the Brooklyn Museum of Art.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nII<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nUpon arrival, reconnaissance, renaissance \u2014<BR>\r\nWe shall look up and find Thucydides in a lineup,<BR>\r\nalongside Confucius, Aeschylus, Homer, Pindar, Saint<BR>\r\nPeter, Moses and Deuteronomy. At street level<BR>\r\nWe shall notice a fresh layer of thatched evergreen vinyl<BR>\r\ntethered to a chain-link fence which<BR>\r\nobscures the new hemicycle<BR>\r\nwhose new origin,<BR>\r\nhaving been established beneath<BR>\r\nan existing dome, accommodates an oblique<BR>\r\naxis of approach. The day is Paris\u00a0<em>matin<\/em>.<BR>\r\nLimestone mist hovers. What state of matter:<BR>\r\nliquid? Gas?\u00a0<em>Potage? N\u2019importe quoi.<\/em>\u00a0For it is mighty<BR>\r\nclear the morning\u2019s precipitation<BR>\r\nwill not soon cease and clouds burn off,<BR>\r\nclear that weather has already foreclosed upon<BR>\r\nthe mixing of cement and such, leaving<BR>\r\nthe construction crew stuck doing<BR>\r\nwhat construction crews most often appear to do.<BR>\r\nNot much. Haloed<BR>\r\nin a cannabis cloud,<BR>\r\nthey loiter in a cluster, sparking<BR>\r\nskinnies in the drizzle at the base of<BR>\r\na young pear tree. Their diffusing<BR>\r\ncloud infuses fog, lends incendiary nose<BR>\r\nof honeysuckle and piss to weather\u2019s vapor.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nDue to rain there is nothing<BR>\r\noutside to build but inside,<BR>\r\nstructure is everything!<BR>\r\nDo union regulations require the hard-<BR>\r\nhats to remain where they stand on the site?<BR>\r\nDo they not know what miracles<BR>\r\nmanifest just beyond the revolving doors?<BR>\r\nShould we tip them off?<BR>\r\n\u2018Head on in, fellas, for the ride of your life!<BR>\r\nExperts believe the new Degas<BR>\r\nwell-hung in the ballroom<BR>\r\nwhose walls perpend a floor of glass<BR>\r\nto be an under drawing.<BR>\r\nWatch light come down<BR>\r\nupon one of her breasts as the newly<BR>\r\nimmaculate\u00a0<em>baigneuse<\/em>\u00a0dries<BR>\r\nher body with a cloth. I have it<BR>\r\non good authority that heterosexual men<BR>\r\nin their testosterone-lousy primes<BR>\r\nare partial to undraped demoiselles.<BR>\r\nNever more so than when toasted.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nLet the workers admire Hiram Powers\u2019s<BR>\r\n\u201cThe Greek Slave\u201d on 5.<BR>\r\nAt first glance she is ancient and<BR>\r\nwhite, but eyes deceive as history does.<BR>\r\nNecessary lessons get missed<BR>\r\nlike train connections and ships that sailed<BR>\r\nby the heartless and stupid.<BR>\r\nAt second glance one comes to see<BR>\r\nher shackled beauty is black.<BR>\r\nAn American slave, she is<BR>\r\npoured of cream,<BR>\r\nblack not white.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nLarry Rivers\u2019s\u00a0<em>July<\/em>\u00a0(also on 5) delivers us<BR>\r\na half-drawn, softly operatic summer glimpse<BR>\r\nof a cookout in progress: a black bike, a geometric<BR>\r\nshirt and verdant yard reveal that sun<BR>\r\nis working behind the scene to throw<BR>\r\nunified light upon a table<BR>\r\nwhere visitors in chairs enjoy shade<BR>\r\nand its counterpart.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nThe rendering is replete and as incomplete<BR>\r\nas leisure itself on a warm afternoon<BR>\r\nwhen thoughts of industry wash sunlight out.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nBut there\u2019s work to be done and<BR>\r\nworld and time insufficient in which<BR>\r\nto do it, so edifying those tool-belts from the local<BR>\r\nwill have to wait. For the proper focus of today\u2019s<BR>\r\nenlightenment agenda falls<BR>\r\nupon those enlivened pupils<BR>\r\nwriggling in the foreground of the museum\u2019s<BR>\r\nedifice, departing<BR>\r\nyellow vehicles<BR>\r\nin an orderly fashion<BR>\r\napproximately in the order<BR>\r\nin which they were received,<BR>\r\nwho queue up at the point of entry in the rain.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nIII<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nWhatever did I do<BR>\r\nto deserve this being summoned<BR>\r\nto join them among the sarcophagi?<BR>\r\nTo be charged with distributing<BR>\r\nthe ebony implements of invention<BR>\r\nand ensuring that each is returned<BR>\r\nto the\u00a0<em>Medaglia d\u2019Oro<\/em>\u00a0can<BR>\r\nonce each eight-year-old master<BR>\r\nhas completed their works.<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nWhatever did I do<BR>\r\nto deserve these obligations?<BR>\r\nOf reminding the uninitiated and forgetful<BR>\r\nthat touching is prohibited,<BR>\r\nof fielding inquiries, counting heads,<BR>\r\nherding 30 3<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0graders \u2014 Ms. Lehman\u2019s class\u2014<BR>\r\nthrough chambers of stone?<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nWhatever did I do to deserve the honor<BR>\r\nof astonishment in the face of<BR>\r\nthe Guardian Eye of Horus,<BR>\r\nPrecinct of Mut, and flexible equilibrium<BR>\r\nof the Late Egyptian Period before the<BR>\r\nPersians and Ptolemies advanced,<BR>\r\nin the company of these still-baking minds?<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nTo enjoy the privilege of<BR>\r\napprehending these particulars<BR>\r\nof mummification \u2014 the practice, for instance,<BR>\r\nduring the reign of Ramses II<BR>\r\nwhereby the brains<BR>\r\nof the imperial dead<BR>\r\nwere drawn out through their nostrils<BR>\r\nby means of a hook, in order that<BR>\r\nthe organs of the head<BR>\r\nmight be preserved<BR>\r\nin canopic jars along with other viscera \u2014<BR>\r\n<BR>\r\nThe hearts, we came to notice,<BR>\r\nwere left unbroken, intact within<BR>\r\nthoracic cavities, because<BR>\r\nthe ancient Egyptians believed<BR>\r\nthe muscle of the heart<BR>\r\nto be the locus, not<BR>\r\nof love, but of intelligence,<BR>\r\nwhich sounds like a pretty good idea to me.<\/P>\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\r\n <script>\r\n\t\tjQuery(function () {\r\n\t\t\tjQuery('#myTab_357 a:first').tab('show')\r\n\t\t});\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\tjQuery(function(){\r\n\t\t\tvar b=\"fadeIn\";\r\n\t\t\tvar c;\r\n\t\t\tvar a;\r\n\t\t\td(jQuery(\"#myTab_357 a\"),jQuery(\"#tab-content_357\"));function d(e,f,g){\r\n\t\t\t\te.click(function(i){\r\n\t\t\t\t\ti.preventDefault();\r\n\t\t\t\t\tjQuery(this).tab(\"show\");\r\n\t\t\t\t\tvar h=jQuery(this).data(\"easein\");\r\n\t\t\t\t\tif(c){c.removeClass(a);}\r\n\t\t\t\t\tif(h){f.find(\"div.active\").addClass(\"animated \"+h);a=h;}\r\n\t\t\t\t\telse{if(g){f.find(\"div.active\").addClass(\"animated \"+g);a=g;}else{f.find(\"div.active\").addClass(\"animated \"+b);a=b;}}c=f.find(\"div.active\");\r\n\t\t\t\t});\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t});\r\n\t\t\r\n\r\n\t\tfunction do_resize(){\r\n\r\n\t\t\tvar width=jQuery( '.tab-content .tab-pane iframe' ).width();\r\n\t\t\tvar height=jQuery( '.tab-content .tab-pane iframe' ).height();\r\n\r\n\t\t\tvar toggleSize = true;\r\n\t\t\tjQuery('iframe').animate({\r\n\t\t\t    width: toggleSize ? width : 640,\r\n\t\t\t    height: toggleSize ? height : 360\r\n\t\t\t  }, 250);\r\n\r\n\t\t\t  toggleSize = !toggleSize;\r\n\t\t}\r\n\r\n\r\n\t<\/script>\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Michele Madigan Somerville<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":359,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[28],"product_tag":[32],"class_list":{"0":"post-358","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-poetry","7":"product_tag-michele-madigan-somerville","9":"first","10":"instock","11":"shipping-taxable","12":"purchasable","13":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rainmountainpress.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}