picasso laughing
By Patti Smith
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divine love is so.
invisible.
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november 1. all souls day. rimbaud-o. go
to hell. picasso knows. how he really fucking
knew knows. where can he go now.
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picasso hoax: don’t nobody tell when he dies.
continue let time continue and move like myth.
till suddenly somebody rings a bell. says over
a dinner party why he he is over a century.
or more perfect two centuries.
diary. sunday. april 8, 1973.
picasso dies
april is the cruelest month etc. what remains?
brian jones bones. jim morrison’s friend.
jimi hendrix bandana. sweatband angel.
the starched collar of baudelaire.
the sculptured cap of voltaire.
the crusader’s helmet like a temple itself
carole lombard’s handmirror
brancusi bird brain.
the prodigal kiss.
judies garland. rimbaud’s valise.
rothko’s overcoat. surreal space.
the black knit dress of piaf.
photographs. picasso laughing. picasso dancing.
picasso do the fishback. picasso do the cadillac.
a heartbreak a brushstroke. the light streaming
the window of the villa. sun rising and setting
and sleeping on clean white sheets all folded
and picasso’s boatneck shirt.
Copyright Credit: Patti Smith, "picasso laughing" from Early Work: 1970-1979. Copyright © 1994 by Patti Smith. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Source: Poetry (April 2023)