poem || Jeff Harrison

The Cave Paintings of Cordwainer Smith

ALPHA RALPHA BOULEVARD

in 1879, the first Cave with Stone Age paintings
was discovered at Altamira in northern Spain. they
were declared to be fakes. today, the Cave is no
longer open to the general public, who are
declared to be fakes. name incoming:

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THE DEAD LADY OF CLOWN TOWN

the Chauvet Cave, Ardèche valley, December 1994.
on the floor reposes skulls of an ibex and two wolves,
also bones of bears. the first part of the Cave has
red images on the wall, the second, black. the
dominant animals throughout the Cave are lions,
mammoths, & rhinoceroses. red handprints. these
pictures are constantly getting in one another's way.
not invisible, but material. as a matter of fact, I believe
they're much afraid of us. I quite agree with you, and
they shall lose visibility when the time comes. I feel sorry
for you, said a lioness; I am always sorry for strangers whom
Fate misguides into the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave.

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A PLANET NAMED SHAYOL

the Lascaux Cave has more than 1500 animal pictures,
but the Lascaux Cave is incapable of re-arranging even
one of these pictures, tho the sky may drop a star, may
shift a cloud. thus, the mineral is distinct from the animal.

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THINK BLUE, COUNT TWO

the paintings at Bédeilhac
in the Pyrenees vanished
completely within six months
of the Cave's discovery. please,
please come here on the land,
I had begged, knowing caves are
rickety as roofs. there are further
sights beneath the earth: rocks
and stones and trees are clouds of
yellow dust rolling behind the wagon.

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THE COLONEL CAME BACK FROM NOTHING AT ALL

the Cave of Niaux is in a limestone deposit
at the entrance to a valley created by the Ariége river.
Niaux Cave! the clay is your moon, roots your sunshine.