Date:         Mon, 15 Jun 1998 09:14:40 -0500
From: Phanny <corbett@AXA.SLU.EDU>
Subject:      [WRITERS] SUB: CONTEST: Murano

Murano

Exhale, don't inhale. You must do it slowly.
This is not a trombone, you see.
What lies on the other side
of this cane is not just sand, but a
glistening globe of liquid sun. Keep rotating
the cane, or the globe will fall.
To master this art, you need to turn it
a thousand times.

Powerful lungs are not necessary, but a long
cane and an eye for colors. Come to think of it,
you should also entertain
daring thoughts, and a volcanic
disposition.

Blow, but delicately. Concentrate, as this white-hot
globe becomes a purple horse. After you pull
his limber legs into place
with pliers and submerge him
in water the horse will be alive
for a second  and scream.
You can touch  it now, he
quieted down. Would you like to see
how a paperweight is done?

Do not come too close, as the sacredness
of this work is lost at close
inspection. Are you not yet convinced
that the gods still dwell in these islands?

They are the ones that make making the lagoon
shimmer at dusk. Can you see the reflection
of the sea light on the ceiling? We have a special
name for it.

No, I do not remember how it's called. I am not
a linguist, you see. You think of the word,
while this paperweight
sizzles.