Time Covers the Monobloc in Blue Light
‘When I recall, let’s say, my mother, am I having a new look at her, or do I see repeatedly a fixed image of her, forever the same? – Etel Adnan
It’s the summer of 2002 / the sun sits heavy
on the lawn Lethargic / to the heat that oppresses it Even blades / of grass swoop / low beholding its grandeur Cicadas / exchange gossip about ambiguous passerby / on the tops of trees over / looking fearful and curious of the objects / of their concerns Sometime in 1946 / a so-called D.C Simpson decided / to reconstitute the chair from parts / into a single form Through lethal injection / of thermoplastic polymer the / monobloc was born — mono meaning one — a single / chair / sat yellowed at the centre / in the front yard The peach tree / at the base of the powdered blue house bore / rotting fruit birds pecked bugs swarmed and a / family picked to save what they could She / used to ride her bike down the block / training wheels
intact rattling behind A cowbell / alerting the farmer to the milk cow’s whereabouts Mi / abuelito would sit / in the patio chair overlooking her movements / to clarify the boundaries / of acceptable periphery and the far / far beyond She had / made a mess of / her frank-wannabe tee blue raspberry otter pop melted / down the front like a parting sea / cyanotype Embedded and egged on into permanence / by the sun’s willingness to imprint In / Austin Powers watched later that year / in the basement sofa after her dad / bought a pirate copy outside the Chinese buffet Dr. / Evil sat
in a commanding leather chair / it’s silly really she thought / it made sense they would put a man concerned with world domination / in a chair / whose sides resembled a hammer / head shark She imagines / the sharks in his lair to match / when he announces their presence At a friend's house / three blocks away she sits in the backyard / eating a home cooked hamburger The BBQ trails / coal smoke up like balloons / made more gaseous / skinless and ephemeral her own
skin / sticks to the chair Peeling herself off / she collects ranch Doritos onto her Styrofoam plate / as kids her age run to the sound of a piñata / being strung up That summer / or the one after or the one after that one / her dad sat in a white polypropylene chair peeling / an orange The scent imbued the air with a sense of / imagination An interruption erupts She / jumps at the sight of her first cicada / enamored it seems by the same scent of citrus / propped closely on the wall with its large / body and vibrating rhythm In / Seven Sisters she watches the Euro finals / in a back garden sipping Old
Rosie on a lawn chair / she realigns / her emotions to those of her friends / Driving through Texas she sees a woman lounging / in a deck chair sipping / cold iced tea and smirk / at the stereotype She / makes a note to get one at the next / stop The day he left / her mother sat in the front yard until dusk / unaware of time’s choreography
A factory / presses mould after mould after / mould in white.
This poem was exhibited at the group show, ‘I Have Nothing but False Memories’ in Filet Space from 22nd - 25th May, 2025.
