The Longest Part of the Journey

Every moment I take the first step.
I am constantly told it is easy.

Nobody mentions
the multiplicity of gates.

“Portam itineri dici longissimam esse.”
(The longest part of the journey is said to be the passing of the gate.)
—Marcus Terentius Varro, De Re Rustica

[RK, 2/25/21]


Crane v. Phoenix

Origami cranes become friable and bitter.
They crumple with the passing of years.

My portfolio is an empty hard shell case
and the memory of brushes.

Pencils and paper create new images
unique and fine, and yet

what’s that burning smell?
The Phoenix reinvents itself.

“Ars adeo latet arte sua.”
(So art lies hid by its own artifice.)
Ovid—Metamorphoses, Book X

[RK, 2/25/21]