Illustration:
mirage - n. an optical illusion caused by atmospheric conditions, esp. by the refraction of light from the sky be heated air; something that appears real or possible but is not in fact so.
artist's book - n. works of art realized in the form of a book.
The poem, La Muse Malade by Charles Baudelaire --
Good morning, Muse -- what's wrong? Something you saw
last night is left in your hollow eyes;
your color's bad, your cheeks are cold
with horror, with madness! -- and you don't say a word.
Are you silenced by the love and fear dispensed
by greenish vampires, rosy ghouls?
Or sunk in some legendary bog,
held under by nightmare's unrelenting fist?
Not like this . . . I want you safe and sound,
thinking fit thoughts, breathing deep,
your Christian bloodstream coursing strong
and steadfast as the copious Classical vein
in the double realm of Pan and Apollo --
Lord of the Harvest, Father of Song.
Good morning, Muse -- what's wrong? Something you saw
last night is left in your hollow eyes;
your color's bad, your cheeks are cold
with horror, with madness! -- and you don't say a word.
Are you silenced by the love and fear dispensed
by greenish vampires, rosy ghouls?
Or sunk in some legendary bog,
held under by nightmare's unrelenting fist?
Not like this . . . I want you safe and sound,
thinking fit thoughts, breathing deep,
your Christian bloodstream coursing strong
and steadfast as the copious Classical vein
in the double realm of Pan and Apollo --
Lord of the Harvest, Father of Song.