JEAN HELION'S SHOWINGS
(1904-1987)

The sun is dancing today
on the enormous windows
outside Jean Helion's studio
with a first light glow
at the Luxembourg gardens
around the octagon basin
facing the chestnut,
camphor and pomegranate,
after the Paris night of snow
as two birds by the dome
with black wings
rise over their branches
not even embarrassed
by Helion's sorry sightings
to be seen by the palm trees
under the roof's fire escape
at this New Year's day
but feel at home in their flight
and begin in the morning
to chirp and sing vertically
from a resounding
musicality of laughter
in a dawn's city tranquility
after a colorist's horizontal hours
as Jean is painting landscapes
with forms of Seurat
in luminous airy highlights
realizing it has the art's poetry
of Baudelaire viewing nature
from his native Normandy
at his bare still life's
figurative paintings
in recurring living memory
and surreal abstractions
of the realities of papers,
new hats, sailor's dummies,
or unpractical salty cigars
from colorful sponges
in umber,ocher, burnt sienna
as he has learnt to study
or waiting on faint orange,
mauve ,Prussian or cobalt blue
with portraits of his friends
of Francis Ponge, Rene Char
Yves Bonnefoy
or the younger poet
Jean-Pierre Bugart
after the snow showers
as Jean momentarily
in water color paintings
the velvety sky background
from his brownish,purplish
or daubed whitish, terra-cotta
on his blankness of a canvas
while being a brave patriot
captured yet escaping
as a prisoner by the Nazis
during his army service
drawing in his daily happenings
as British and French, Russian
stopping to hear
sopranos and tenors
recently mobbed
by their appearances
at their recording studios
of Verdi's vocalized tones
and a lone eccentric
back bench politician,
a Hollywood movie technician
a jogger and marathon runner
a pop artist
an actor
in a full feature new film
with a witty British accent
with great cleverness
of a rather grim gentleman
fresh from a camera job
a Times book reviewer arrives
for four O'clock tea or coffee
as he sketches
his objects and live figures
now writing furiously
preparing this dawn
for Jean Helion's showings
by his cultural signature.