Title page with the three panels of The Fulbright Triptych.
1 of 37. An acrostic set of 36 haiku inspired by:
The Fulbright Triptych, by Simon Dinnerstein
T H E F U L B R I G H T T R I P T Y C H
S I M O N R E N É E S I M O N E
Written by Dean Johnson
T. The central panel and a detail of sycamore seed balls on the workbench.
2 of 37. T
Time ceases to be.
Not so for sycamore balls.
One fell to the floor.
H. The workbench and a close view of its drawer handle.
3 of 37. H
Handles each twice grip
two sap-lacquered workbench drawers.
Two-stalked barnacles.
E. A lichen close-up beside the painted rooftops.
4 of 37. E
Embracing lichen,
Lifemates Alga and Fungus:
Date night’s on the house.
F. The triptych with red perspective lines, beside a detail of a drawing instrument.
5 of 37. F
Floors fade to one point…
Dinnersteins’ legs point to more.
‘Tis the Twilight Zone.
U. Trees and an Apkallu relief beside the two windows in the painting.
6 of 37. U
Under Apkallu,
gardens bloom with fruit blossoms,
nigh three thousand years.
L. An engraved garden path beside Simon’s copper plate.
7 of 37. L
Leaves and cobblestones
‘round Simon’s copper plate, groove,
playing Duck, Duck, Goose!
B. Dolls and toys beside the green landscape beyond the studio.
8 of 37. B
Blue fescue, rising,
stretching wide as ocean waves,
mouthing lullabies.
R. Children’s drawings beside a reproduced Renaissance portrait.
9 of 37. R
Renaissance guildsmen,
vacationing school girls, peer
through the oil paint.
I. A pocket watch held before the painting beside a close-up of the painted watch.
10 of 37. I
In his bezeled case,
wind-up-man seems to ask me,
“Lived wisely, this time?”
G. The family portraits beneath hanging plants, beside a religious painting detail.
11 of 37. G
Green sun-seeking vines,
glowing above parents’ heads:
secular halos.
H. Art reproductions pinned to the studio’s pegboard wall.
12 of 37. H
Honey-grained peg board,
inspires through myriad pores,
Holy with fine art.
T. Two musicians beside a child’s drawing of birds, aircraft and ships.
13 of 37. T
Two slay L’homme armé,
sound machines await new breath;
big bird blows up ships.
T. A flower painting beside a detail of the countryside.
14 of 37. T
Tiny pasque flowers
gently sprout in virgin soil,
growing where peace is.
R. An Annunciation image beside Renée’s airmail letter in the painting.
15 of 37. R
Renée to Simon
writes of her round, airbourne fruit:
Annunciation.
I. A handwritten note beside a drawn portrait and a religious image.
16 of 37. I
I may be the One…
in shining gold leaf, thought I…
Gray came…solitude.
P. A woman’s portrait beside a weeping face and a hanging plant.
17 of 37. P
Pearls, sorrowing eyes,
six small tears descend flushed cheeks,
bless the thirsting vines.
T. A religious image beside a row of small stubs on the workbench.
18 of 37. T
Twenty seven stubs,
stalwart like Monty’s black knight:
“ ‘tis but a flesh wound!”
Y. The letter y, a phoneme chart and a monochrome interior image.
19 of 37. Y
‘Y’s’, count on four lives:
‘yet,’ ‘gym,’ ‘my’, ‘baby,’ I ask:
“Why, oh, why can’t I??!!!”
Letter C and haiku beside a drawing of a pregnant seated woman and a yellow handwritten diagram of a future human with pollution adaptations.
20 of 37. Cheeks puffed with clean air,
she drafts filtration gear for
bearing the new world.
Letter H and haiku with Holbein's Madonna of the Meyer family below and a painted detail of Jacob Meyer's profile drawing at right.
21 of 37. Hans Holbein the Young’s
Jacob Meyer cartoon: not
comic; devout…rich.
Letter S and haiku above an old document; a painted reproduction of a striding winged ancient figure fills the right side.
22 of 37. Striding winged god-man,
pressed flat, like a dried flower,
paused between two states.
Letter I and haiku with a monochrome drawing of a woman standing in a furnished room, beside a painted reproduction of Vermeer's The Art of Painting.
23 of 37. Iohannes Ver Meer
finds his fine name, on the map,
in one German’s crypt.
Letter M and haiku with an image of a bespectacled human head on a turtle body, beside a painted handwritten passage from Melville.
24 of 37. Melville’s briney craft,
ever “thrusting through the mask,”
hunting for art’s truth.
Letter O and haiku above a painted portrait study; a large painted schoolroom card shows three clock faces.
25 of 37. Old schoolroom flash cards,
tools for the humanities,
clocks by which we see.
Letter N and haiku with a portrait of a woman beside a curtain; at right a detail of the triptych shows Van Eyck's Madonna in the Church pinned to the wall.
26 of 37. North sun shining on
Van Eyck’s Madonna in Church:
Inconceivable!
Letter R and haiku above a monochrome drawing of clasped hands; at right a painted family photograph sits beside hanging foliage.
27 of 37. Renée at Dad’s side,
Sam Sudler, in his red shirt,
she holds his hand, still.
Letter E and haiku with a photograph of a pale carved head; at right a painted card depicts a small standing statue with an open mouth.
28 of 37. Eroded face paint
made this statue most austere…
Wittgenstein’s ‘beauty.’
Letter N and haiku with a circular monochrome garden drawing; at right a painted Persian miniature shows figures among flowering trees.
29 of 37. Nature, royalty,
deftly sown ‘round Muraqqas’
Persian garden patch.
Letter É and haiku with a monochrome portrait of a young woman resting her head on her hand; at right a painted detail shows two black-and-white photo-booth portraits of a couple.
30 of 37. Ever to be young.
paper whites and silver black
windows to the soul.
Letter E and haiku above a painted Wittgenstein quotation; at right a lined school exercise sheet lists phonetic words and marks.
31 of 37. Exercising minds,
seventy phonemes in all,
recite Wittgenstein.
Letter S and haiku with an image of a golden oval disc below; at right a child's drawing appears above a close-up of a child's blue eyes.
32 of 37. Sagan’s golden discs
code pale blue dot voyages:
Simone’s Sapphires.
Letter I and haiku with a monochrome drawing of a reclining woman; at right a painted reproduction of Ingres' Comtesse d'Haussonville shows her with one arm bent across her body.
33 of 37. Ingres' Comtesse,
protested posing so long.
He twisted her arm.
Letter M and haiku above painted airmail correspondence; at right a painted photograph shows people beside a table with dishes.
34 of 37. Moons before she’s born,
Simone’s mom dreamt her as
a dish suds bubble.
Letter O and haiku with a monochrome portrait of a girl beside a piano; at right a painted lined practice sheet contains rows of hand-drawn loops and circles.
35 of 37. On and on they go…
perfecting fine artist’s skills,
painters…pianists.
Letter N and haiku above a small portrait of Simon Dinnerstein seated; a larger portrait at right shows Renée seated with the infant Simone in her lap.
36 of 37. Near miraculous,
this bright child and madonna,
only natural.
Letter E and haiku with a painted card of three clock faces below; at right a window view shows German houses with red roofs and distant fields and hills.
37 of 37. “Einfamilienhaus…”
whispered…while in Köln…homesick…
Stirred thoughts of Brooklyn.