on Cai Guo-qiang’s pyrotechnic art
he is a cloud creator
those clouds
generated by sulphureous violence
his genic pigments
seminal hues
exploded in the air
dendroidly hung from the sky
ejected onto paper
smeared on clothe
etched into panel
burned in wall
mirrored by water
or on things beyond retina
the tones of his clouds
modulate from thick black
to paler tones
then blown by the wind
like drops of ink
dispersing in clear water
perfectly simulate
ink painting’s six nuances:
dry or wet
concentrated or diluted
black or white
after clouds fall on the paper
under better control
he simply maneuvers
calligraphic effects
‘drying brush stroke’
‘flying white stroke’
‘broken ink’ or ‘splattered ink’
and beneath the flamboyant arabesque
sinuous burning tracks manifest
‘dragon arteries’
the secret of the landscape of China
as if five thousand years are squandered
only for the transient dissipation
of the fog of history—
simply extravagant clouds
electroplated with mint meanings
yet he is a cloud exquisite
and clouds can only be museumed
by the sky