—Paul Klee, 1920
Because I came / Blossoms opened
Line, curve, arc, angle, a New Angel
Freed from its stanchion
Cat’s cradle strung from wing fingers
Because I went / Nothing threw its shadow / Over everything
Falling, or rising, bird toes hovering
Lion of Judah, blushes of peach and yellow
Scrolls for a mane, spine for a tabernacle
Dread messenger or dumbstruck witness
The Reich . . . armed to the teeth . . . yet hopeless
To be an example
Of how a people should endure its downfall
Thorn in the swelling fruit
Or, loose the worst
