forward a semiotic sugarloaf

in the tall red room
the portraits slant toward
the upper corners
and only then could it become
a nameless hat
a hat of marbled endpapers
seeking no head
no master
but only a yellow pencil
maniacally riddled with toothmarks
so that its nacre
nitre, ichor, and opalescent
sutsilvan fons might fill
the tiny voids of the pyrrhouetting pillar
and be in the pencil-biter's stead
that neutral way
between all worlds
tradescant
yet saluting in outline
the lone green tulip
of the yet unopened
cabinet