John Hertzberg.
Price of Admission.1992.
Mixed Media Collage, 40" x 30". $1100.

Clouds to the past parting
Wordman suspended in nocturnal reverie
Descending into a dioxine reality
Silhouettes of previous times emerging
Causing him to question this juxtaposition
Of names and faces
Lost along the way
Maybe it's just the price of admission
A long line of refugees running
Across landscapes remaining only
Somewhere in the backyards of his mind
Where James Dean went leaping
Across a chasm of time
It was so easy
Didn't even cost a dime
Marconi set in darkened confines
Trying to make contact
With others like himself
Everything has vanished
Memories now lining a shelf
The refugees feel a rumbling
Coming from deep inside the earth
James Dean screaming
Exhorting them to flee
Telling them of impending danger
The earth about to tear
Just like a paper bag
It opens up
Swallowing all in its path
Figurines of memory falling
Disappearing from sight
James Dean running at top speed
Hoping to catch a glimpse
Of the aging Marconi
Before he fades
He's hiding amongst the hieroglyphics
Trying to decipher their meaning
Climbing through an opening in time
Wordman folds up James Dean
Hiding him in his wallet
While looking long and hard
Through a kaleidoscope lens
Seeing the faint outline
Of Fair Juliet walking
High atop the Sphinx
Guarding the entrance
To what he thinks
Soft dark curls surrounding
Her classic face reflecting
The warm cadmium hues
0f late afternoon leaving