The Leonardo

The Leonardo
__________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzhT38QfgGE&feature=related

“He was what is
termed a “slank,”
very lean, with a
pale sharp-nosed
face and appallingly
restless eyes”
—Vladimir Nabokov
“The Leonardo”

Embroiled as I was in—
Tres gay émigré (diaspora)
Homoerotic issues, was
I merely a “Leonardo”?

A “Korolek” creep posing—
As a would-be artist named
Romantovskii, conflating
“Romanticism” with “roman”?

Was I a fake “true artist”—
Caught in a philistine shack
Bemoaning my fate, vulgar
Neighbors persecuting me?

“Meanwhile the brothers
began to swell, to grow,
they filled up the whole
room, the whole house,
and then grew out of it”
—“The Leonardo”

Str8ts have a way—
Of abhorring a vacuum
Especially if the black
Hole is somewhat gay

Oh, heaven forbid—
Was I just a con artist
A counterfeiter str8t fake
A pervert poet incognito?

Both Gide & Nabokov—
Subverting traditional str8t
Poetics with something a
Little more Euro-moderne

“Gigantic, imperiously
reeking of sweat and beer,
with beefy voices and
senseless speeches, with
fecal matter replacing
the human brain”
—“The Leonardo”

Did Les Faux-Monnayeurs—
Offer compositional, narrative
And thematic exits from having
To embrace their mise-en-scene?

Did gay aesthetics find a way—
For me to be a Romantovskii
Using Gide’s mise-en-abyme
To live and write about love?

Wasn't every original novel—
Rather "anti-" in that way of
Not resembling known genres,
Leaving predecessors behind?