The worm of white on white, the whey and milk
of white, the chalk on milk and the bone, break
of bone, egg-wash and acrylic, ash, soft drifts
of ash, hoarse coughs of ash, snow also, laid
lightly on snow, piled on it, blindingly bright,
blanched, bled and white static, brushed pallid,
ivory as fluttered wings, alabaster as an empty
bowl, wan drone as drowse in a muted horn,
blank like a slogan, no, like a flag, clean, crisp,
like cut timber, plain, spotless as sheets, as an
accusation, as a cancellation. Can you see me?
I said: can you see me? I am there, I am there,
I am the killer in the centre of the picture,
I am the tooth and the wound and the nail,
white on the white on the white on the white.
Self-portrait as fox with Arctic hare
