Palladium
Janet Kuypers
from the “ Periodic Table of Poetry” series
“Have you ever been to the Palladium?”
He asked me,
so I asked, “The one in New York?”
“No…”
“Oh, the Hollywood Palladium? No.”
But the thing is, after the success
of the Hollywood Palladium,
New York converted the Academy of Music
to the Palladium in ‘76,
there are Palladium theaters in San Antonio TX.,
St. Petersburg FL, Detroit MI,
High Point NC, even Worcester, MA.
Sorry I haven’t been.
I was actually thinking
about how as an element
Palladium is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal
(like other other platinum group metals),
and although it is primarily used now
in catalytic converters, which convert
up to 90% of harmful gases from auto exhaust.
Palladium is also used to make
fine-art black-and-white prints,
and Palladium even plays a key role in technology
used for fuel cells, combining hydrogen and oxygen
to produce electricity, heat, and water.
And the thing is, Palladium has been used
for jewelry as a replacement for platinum…
You know, I think it would sound kind of cool
to say you have a diamond set
in a Palladium band
instead of a platinum one.
I mean, it would then have one more thing
to make it worth talking about….
Then he asked me,
“Would you rather have a Palladium diamond ring
or perform at the Hollywood Palladium?
And I thought about it for a second,
then answered,
“I’d rather perform at the Palladium.
The ring is just a thing
I could get at any time.”
Then I saw the news,
stating that platinum was about
to skyrocket in price,
and I thought,
“wait a minute,
now might be a good time
to get that Palladium jewelry,
before the price of Palladium
goes up too…”
The Poet’s Solstice
The oddity of this meandering life
Is only emphasized by its failure
Of metaphor: the long slow passage
From too early autumnal nights,
Meager harvests, brief Indian summer
Into withering winter, ice in the
Marrow, grind of joints too frozen
To slide, cheekbones sadder than granite.
Others climbed uphill toward the sun,
Found basking places, came to rest,
But I moved past them, sought glaciers
In which to imprison youth, numb its
Edges against the pain of will, not yet
Tired of boredom as the boon companion
Of incarceration, still comforted by the
Crack and shatter of sledge on stone.
Strange that the wind becomes thinner
As oxygen fails, that rainbows survive
The heights, not caring the form of water.
How could I know life would linger,
That in its briefest season
The thawing margins of the summit
Would reach to plump out scant seed, impel
It to seek the source that scented
Warmer, still-rising air with the
Faint bittersweet of butterfly scales,
The pungent tears of spring’s first storms.
The body faintly wishes to resist this
Journey toward gentler repose, but
The way lies downward, daisy-marked,
Across slopes of talus and scree.
The feet already find hewn pebbles that
Have rolled this way before me, bearing
Faint impressions of decades’ labor:
A few have been pocketed as keepsakes,
Reminders of how little endures.
The heart has revived to the point where
Milestones are no longer beneath notice:
Yesterday I paused at the first and was
Struck dumb at finding another’s seasons
Stitched up and left as a wayfarer’s gift:
After a night beneath that cloak, I’ve
Shed my tatters and wrapped it about me.
It speaks of solace and longing
On the road to summer.
– David W. Mitchell
***
Musings and Other Poems by Doug Tanoury
________________________________________
Musing
Lying awake in
A hammock, I study the sky,
The patterns
Of high altitude clouds
Wispy and insubstantial,
In light brush strokes
Across the upper atmosphere.
There is a cardinal singing
From somewhere unseen,
High in the maple
Or deep in the ash
And starlings fly from west to east
In early evening, just as they fly
From east to west each morning.
In these small details
Of my day, as I lay weightless,
Suspended somewhere between
Earth and sky, I somehow feel
The absence of you,
A space unfilled,
A bird not singing,
A word unspoken.
____________________________
Here is Google Translation of Vincenzo Di Giorgio Here is his Facebook Page
In my life, thanks to continuous research, I was able to become a painter of abstract figurative and portrait paintings. I can make all kinds of portraits from photos, in person, to order or to personal taste. Realizable ancient and modern paintings, oil painting or drawing or mixed media, figures and landscapes , with brushes and oil and tempera painting to painting modern abstract.
I am happy to welcome Vincenzo to my little family of artists. He is from Italy. His abstracts are deeply interesting and I hope to publish more of his work and, maybe, if we are lucky, some photos of his country. Well Done Vincenzo and thank you.