A Poem by Richard Misiano-Genovese (English Version)

Comtesse Déshabillée 

A jumble of arms and legs,
mouths, lips, eyes…
Geometric barriers refuse to give way
to random mathematics, pulsating in marble–
askew desires unbounding with total abandon,
unfettered in sublime repose…

Ribbons and lace in tatters,
random horizons, inverted dreams…
The dance of the revolvers, the heat of wet umbrellas
all mastering the arts of deception…

There she is! –
Appearing with a curl of smile upon her pouting red lips…
Her stylish hat perched on her head a fragile eggshell –
shining sweat of turquoise-red with a slight blush to the cheeks,
spoiling for a fight –a thousand wriggling snakes poised to strike
this wary Medusa revels in her marbled glances…
45 degrees of anxiety overtakes
he who dares challenge Comtesse Déshabillée !
Iconic, enveloped in smoke,
sublime floral scent of a thousand butterflies, with razor-sharp wings,
beating madly, swarming conflagration –
her violet eyes
flashing madness zig-zagging downhill–
reinventing dreams,
planning new worlds to conquer
witnessing teacups exploding in diurnal surprise…

A haze of blue-pink envelops her–
Captivated by this Venus Flytrap
where the apple explodes, bursting in joy at its liberation
freedom gives way to the wanton needs…
never caged in the silken columns
the lost joys of the last reverie composed…
Comtesse Déshabillée !

Enveloped by swarms of buzzing houseflies she rolls the dice––
Fashioned with lobster pincers, wrapped in gossamer
wings and gnawed bits of Swiss cheese forms at the corners of her mouth…
Mice in attendance, swooning at her command.

Cascading dice and flies streaming down in contiguous patterns…
she murmurs and she sighs…
folding and unfolding layers upon layers of tissue paper thighs
the stench of brilliance surrounds her…
at last, honeybees sing her praises, no room to spread waxen wings–
Comtesse Déshabillée !

(2016)


Richard Misiano-Genovese

 (b.1947, New York, NY, USA)

               Collagist, photographer, painter and theorist, Misiano-Genovese is 
proactively immersed in surrealist thought since the 1960’s. Originator and
proponent of the methods of the Altered Lithograph, and Excavation Collage,
fixed on the continual reinvention and investigation of the human female form.

               References include “Who’s Who in America”, “Who’s Who in American Art”,
and Wikipedia. Featured in numerous international publications including “GRASP”,
“The Exhibitioner”, “Hydrolith II”, “Patricide”, “LOUP~GAROU”, “Appearances” and
“Punto Seguido”. Book references include: “Il Surrealismo Ieri e oggi” “Surrealismo:
El Oro del Tiempo”, “Caleidoscopio surréalista”, and “A PHALA”. Exhibited
internationally, with artworks in private and museum collections, papers in special
library collections.