Fitzgerald & Fischbach-Braden – Nov.13

Fitz Fitzgerald and Sylvia Fischbach-Braden traded art and words. Syl shared this piece, “Norman Conquest,” with Fitz:

In response, Fitz wrote this poem:

conquest

queen of a conqueror
inscribed in the layers
of costume and history
to a foreign land
you went for mercenaries
a third dimension
you would not make
that conversion
neither for convenience
nor conviction

* * * * *

Fitz shared this poem with Syl:

how to rock opera

as for opera, three avenues of enjoyment exist. hearing the story through the floor is of first importance. listen: a glockenspiel immersed in a humidifier supported by the drone of a hurdy-gurdy. no opera is complete until the story is unclear. the only freedom in this life is the unexpected. yet all opera must begin and end somewhere. in this case it arcs like a boomerang, clapping me upside the head. be forewarned most operas are full of pipes you cannot smoke, which is most puzzling.

the best way to experience opera is to confuse yourself with its score. then do so. many others have. let no one tell you this opera is better than another. you be the judge. your enjoyment is a personal matter, your pleasure a private affair.

fast-forward to the crypt of skulls, bones piled like cordwood, shards arranged like mosaics in little decorative motifs. this has nothing to do with the hyper-awareness of our time. stutterstep but you cannot fake those years, dust you become. it’s curtains for us and only opera will survive, a fat lady singing an old dance known as the toot-a-loo from the louvre.

In response, Syl created this untitled piece: