Jasper Johns’ “Corpse and Mirror II” by Elaine Mintzer

Corpse and Mirror II, by Jasper Johns, 1975.

Jasper Johns’ “Corpse and Mirror II”
 
from underground I look     up I see shore
or sky     I breathe air
 
or not this     is the curve
of my rib    arrow
 
of my scapula
I am broken      slate scattered
 
one lip touches      another they
are mine     they are ours
 
the key      to this map
its starburst of directions
 
billowing north wind     its broken

and intersecting        rivers and roads

Elaine Mintzer

Elaine Mintzer has been published in a number of journals and anthologies including Cultural Weekly, Rattle, Silver Birch Press, Lindenwood Review, Cyclamens and Swords, and Voices Israel.  Her work was featured in 13 Los Angeles Poets. Elaine’s first collection, Natural Selections, was published by Bombshelter Press.  She writes and teaches writing in Los Angeles.