The Aesthetics of Statistics
-- by Gerard Malanga (for Kimberly Jones)

In the painting Rolla, by Henri Gervex, ca 1890
[Musee des Beaux Arts, Bordeaux]
a man standing with right elbow on terrace-railing,
white shirt unbuttoned, left hand holding
back to door for support,
and looking over the bed -- the women
sleeping, arms outstreatched at right angles,
head turned on its side, knees akimbo --
the right leg bent, the left leg hanging over the edge of bed.
White silk sheet covering part of the
shank and ankle. Breasts, stomach,
mons veneris exposed. Pale white flesh.
It is 6:35am. It is the end of the synchronicity
of encounter. It is the morning after.
It is the silence after rain.
It is the man and the women, etc.
It is September 9, 1989 that parts and unites...