(Bi)zarre Icons

"The other side of the coin has its other side too"
Siddhartha Gautama

If you go to the park in the early afternoon,
the one that begins just behind the big highway
and above the grey smoke of brown exhaust,
there you may find the expressionless girl
who is sometimes there, arms folded.
She will sell you a handmade icon
(and will even try to work out what sort of person you are)

full of whimsical dragons and birds,
with lots of green blotches across the sky
and with halos of impressions
and a few original sins
around the edges (in yellow, ruby and grassy green),
fleeting night terrors and kukeri mummers standing guard,
fire-walkers and firemen,
winged angels and great-hearted saints,
spiral triangles
with no eye in the middle,
shaggy birds holding a scarf in their hands.

And because sometimes towards evening,
when the day has not been a happy one
and neither time nor people have stopped,
she begins to doubt
whether anyone gives a damn,
she paints on the back a few little figures
from a children's fairy tale,
so that you'll be better pleased
and get your product "two in one",
which by now matters a great deal
to your sense of a good deal.