by Ali Znaidi
The Mona Lisa Megrims
A river of secret light used to stream across her enigmatic lips.
No wind was able to expose her untamed smile, nor the years—
a smile beyond description/ a smile that encrypted but never
revealed.
She always felt jubilant like an immaculate virgin that is hard
to conquer. She always felt sublime, & even her shadow rippled
her mysterious beauty. She always felt she is the only artist
when it comes to enigmatic seduction. But today melancholia
is her twin sister because her codes are deciphered & her enigma
is showcased in museums’ halls to satisfy the gluttony of hungry
eyes.
A Hall of Fame
She
saw
many copies
of her face
being generated on the pond.
She felt inducted into a hall of fame.
The Calculator
The
calculator
in his
hands was miraculous.
He said it helped him
calculate jillions & jillions of his fragmented dreams.
Cruelty
An
artificial
snail atop
a wooden clock:
/tick, tick, tick, tick, tick/
Cruel time is merciless [ly] moving w/ it
Collage
winter
melancholy
I cut
my old newspapers
into tiny pieces, tiny scraps—
a collage/a feast for my hungry fireplace