Marc Zegans
The Book of Clouds
Kite-string Press
Copyright 2016
Review by Lo Galluccio
In Italo Calvino’s ‘Invisible Cities” Marco Polo is
a messenger to Kublai Khan and his reports to the Emperor are dream-like and
baroque descriptions of cities to which he’s traveled. In the middle of the book, Polo admits that
all of these cities are tropes on Venice, so even though they are all unique in
design, style, purpose, essence, they have a Venice-like template. In short, all the cities are the same
city.
In Marc Zegans latest collection, “The Book of
Clouds” he relates an offering made to a loved one-- a friend or lover-- of a flange of clouds. In this assortment,
there are many different kinds of clouds, yet one wonders if they are all
variations on the very first cloud in the book, given to the loved one as
pleasure, diversion, protection and whim.
In the first poem, the beloved asks for a “cloud
tonight/a cloud hanging over the Pacific/high above the sunset, glowing with
dusk.” At the poem’s end we understand
that the author and object of the cloud will be tethered together –“you sit on
the beach in a small chair/your stringed toe rocking me on my cloud gently.” It
is a beautiful image of a cloud, like a balloon tied to a toe that is rocking,
while the lover sits on the beach. We
can picture dusk, perhaps the most lovely time to be on any beach as the sun
starts to set. The second poem is quite
simple – “Would you like a cloud tonight?/ I think so./What sort of cloud?/ A
simple cloud that you will pull with you as you walk the beach.” This is a compacted version of the first poem
story. It echoes the first one, like a
bell’s resonance.
There are all wonder of clouds in this collection:
clouds heavy with night rain, clouds of magnificent colors, clouds of
wakefulness and sleep. Each cloud
intended as a lullaby, a cushion, a spectacle for the beloved. In number 7, denoted by a roman letter, the
poet writes:
“As though dropping from a wall/you fall into
tonight’s spun grey-cloud/softer than lambs wool, stronger than silk. It
stretches around your sides, cradling your leap into dreamless sleep.”
Thus cloud as cradle or hammock leading to a sleep
without dreams. Sometimes we just want
to sleep and not be beset with dreams, good or bad. This is one condition that this poem grants
the beloved with a magical grey cloud.
There is also this cloud’s opposite coming right after, “Free and
festive, rested now for many days/you ask me for a cloud of vivid dreams/and I
give you this cloud of radiant white/from which you can draw a million
colors/strand upon strand/on which to weave your dreams.”
Cloud 14 is a simple play on words:
[c]loud/thunder/clap! The loud noise of the thunder is derived from the thunder
cloud that claps to herald a storm.
There are thin clouds, and shy clouds that cleanse the day from weary
eyes. The most obvious benefit of these
story-book clouds is that they promote sleep.
In cloud 19 the cloud’s colors transmute “From byzantine to
aubergine/amethyst through mauve into orchid/eggplant entwined with English
violet/the varied purples of your cloud/remove the robes of public
office/leaving you only, ready for sleep./
In number 22, we find another cloud offering by the
poet: “Your cloud glows Venetian Red/it has the scent of history/and the
lushness of ripened fruit./ And in
number 24, “Your cloud tonight is a delicious/confection of oranges and
lemons/with enough cream to make a Pavlova.”
So the author explores the cloud as being a
confection, like cotton candy, or full of cream like the Pavlova cake
mentioned. These poems are delightful
offerings to the loved one’s hunger and add a dimension of taste to the
clouds. There is also an overall quality
of parfait to these poems. They are easy
to take in, like a light dessert, something that cleanses the palate after a
heavy meal or nourishes the dreamer with beauty and devotion.
In number 25, “this cloud floats over horses/grazing
on the salt-breeze grass by Muir Beach./ and it travels “by jet stream to meet
you/the scents of eucalyptus and sea sliding you into enchanted sleep. We are
keenly aware of the fresh and minty perfume emitted by this cloud and how it
provokes a wondrous night’s sleep.
I should mention that this book was set up so that
there is only one poem for every page and nothing but space adjoining that
page. The author wants the reader to be
able to envision his clouds without any confusing juxtapositions. So the poem, like a cloud, inhabits its own
piece of the sky. Each page tells a
story about a cloud enchanting the beloved’s existence and mainly his/her’s
sleep. There are many delightful stories
in this collection, dedicated to those ephemeral yet clearly manifest
phenomena, clouds. In the final poem,
number 31, the poet concludes:” Tonight’s cloud is the cloud you have made/the
cloud in need of no other/the cloud drawn from the light you have bestowed.”
Marc Zegans is the author of “The Underwater
Typewriter,” “Boys in the Woods” and “The Book of Clouds.” He is also a spoken word artist and an
artist’s consultant.
The book is presently
available only at Lulu. It will go into broader distribution in a few
weeks. Here’s the link to the book page on Lulu.
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