Egyptian Roof Garden (Thursday Doors)

The sky is alive–I consider
the opening, the threshold
with no door—what is
in, what is out, where do I
begin?  Does my body still
contain me?  I feel
strange, as if I am not
actually there—here?—as
if I am threaded with
ephemeral currents, netted
in this floating airscape that
does not seem to be
located anywhere at all.

I fall together.  I am a part
of something.  Is it cosmic?  I am
not certain.  In this still place I have
no need to respond to the unasked.

I visited the Egyptian-inspired Roof Garden Commission, by Lauren Halsey, at the Metropolitan Museum, last May. It was a perfect day.

Halsey stated that she wished the installation to feel like “a spiritual portal to the Mothership, the stars”–and it definitely did.

Although based on Egyptian architecture, Halsey’s structure references her family, friends, and neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles in the faces and hieroglyphic ornamentation on the pillars and walls.

Halsey is very interested in world-building, and wants to create welcoming community spaces for the neighborhood where she grew up, spaces that reflect the energy and imagination of the people she knows. This temple serves as a prototype for one she hopes to build in LA.

You can see an interview with Halsey at the Roof Garden, here.

My poem is a jamb-jitsu, David’s prompt this week for W3.

And there are always more doors to see at Thursday Doors, hosted by Dan Antion.