Rendezvous of Sunday, February 6, 1916

A sinner’s taxonomy

of wax syllables straying, impatient:

begging you to spell it out

to tax and file away those problematic punctuations

or else fax and defile, painting crass aberrations

like a fading portrait in the gaping maw of a whale

a letter bomb nesting amongst evening’s mail

to incinerate oneself in the pits of language

to fan the flames in a deluxe boiler suit

In response to Marcel Duchamp's 'Rendezvous of Sunday, February 6, 1916 (Rendez-vous du Dimanche 6 Février 1916)' 1916.

See the artwork that inspired this poem in the flesh, along with more than 100 of Marcel Duchamp’s world-renowned pieces in ‘The Essential Duchamp’ exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 27 April – 11 August 2019.