BOB HICOK
SELLING MAGRITTE'S HOUSE
The train in the fireplace
stays, immutably bound for Paris or Istanbul. Think of it
as a conversation piece
of industrial muscle, an urban metaphor
offsetting the mantel's
rural chic.
Upkeep's tax deductible.
A rock in the den's not
so bad. A little imagination, some hardware, a deft
use of explosives
and you've got yourself a lamp. A solid
style, very Ethan Allen,
and what doesn't go
with black? Notice the sky
living inside these windows,
an animal caged in glass. You can tell the owner's
a closet optimist
by the utopian clouds, the comforting drug
of blue. With these,
the mountains
in the next room, the sea
he keeps out back, you've got
an unvarying version of nature, a good investment, hedge
against inflation.
People despise the persecution of change.
Constancy: they'll pay
big-time for that.
The owner? A very regular man,
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