The poker deck, home of many hands, winners and losers, straights and aces, trips, pairs, highs and lows, testing my mettle, reading my opponents, calculating the odds, going all in or folding in hopeful anticipation of the next deal

The tube of paint, crimson, the color of blood and shadow, of a splattered masterpiece or indelible mess, transformed when mixed with other pigments, not unlike us 

The Swiss Army Knife, the great tool, turning youth into the skilful carver, bottle opener, fish scaler, screw turner, bone cutter, cutting away the thickets that block one’s path allowing the possessor to continue his never-ending journey through boyhood

The brush of fine hair, held by a ferrule attached to the hollow bone of a bird that flew across the sea, to lay blush upon a Majarani´s cheek to offset the blue fire in her eyes 

A terra cotta vase, a mini palace to accommodate a single rose, guarded by a battalion of thorns ensuring the full course of her brief radiant life in bloom 

The ink cartridge from which will emerge the picture of a thousand words, points of enlightenment and images of darkness, predictions of the past in the presence of the future, creation forming out of a dark mass