SPRINGTIME ALWAYS WELCOMES THE HEROES.

BROMELIA NEOREGELIA

There is an ecosystem
inside of the bromelia neoregelia,
the epiphyte that clings onto
the large trunks of trees by its roots.

The center of the plant is a cup
that holds rainfall. It is a pond where
all of the flowers grow.
Many emerald green buds stick
their tops through the surface
of the water.
The buds are wet and glimmering; seductive
as you try to glimpse at your reflection.

The green and yellow leaves
of the bromelia neoregelia
wrap around the center cup.
They are secured to
the root of the plant,
dig into the base, and
extend outward towards
the air.

You always know when
the flowers are coming
because the leaves of
the bromelia neoregelia bleed
a pomegranate color. The red floods
the green and yellow stripes,
making the leaves monochromatic.

You always know when
the heroes are coming
because the leaves of
the bromelia neoregelia bleed
a pomegranate color. The red floods
the green and yellow stripes,
making the leaves monochromatic.

It is Achilles who is bleeding, and his
mother is wailing.
She gave birth to the perfect son,
half god, half mortal.
He was without fault and powerful,
conspicuous among heroes as he
shot up like a young tree.
She nurtured him like a young tree
grown in the pride of the orchard.

Achilles should die,
because when you see him live,
and he looks on the sunlight,
he has sorrow,
and you can do
nothing to help him.
He has sorrow that you
can do nothing about
because he does not believe
that he will be immortalized by
the new generations of
men in poetry.

He has sorrow
that you can do
nothing about because
he does not believe
that he will be immortalized by
the new generations
of leaves that the wind
scatters on the ground.

The flowers of
the bromelia neoregelia
shoot up like young trees.
They appear in a startling
blue color,
the kind of blue you see on Pluto.
The petals look
like tissue paper
sticking out of a box.
But like tissue paper,
their time is short,
and they wrinkle up
and fall away.

These flowers die upon full bloom.

Achilles dies upon full bloom.

But soon, the roots sprout
a genetically identical
bromelia neoregelia and
the life cycle of the epiphyte continues,
still clinging
onto the large trunks of trees
by its roots.

If an epiphyte
thrives in an environment,
there is no need for
sexual reproduction—the production of
an individual.
Vegetative reproduction—the production of
a clone, is preferable
as it maintains the harmony
with the habitat.
The population stays strong;
it becomes a biomass of
genetically identical organisms physically
separate in every way.

The epiphytes always come back the same,
and the bromelia neoregelia always dies
in full bloom.

The heroes always come back in the spring,
and Achilles always dies
in full bloom.

Bromelia Neoregelia

This unique artist book was written and created by the artist,
Tammy Nguyen.

The italicized texts were taken from the following:

Homer. The Iliad of Homer. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Illus.
Leonard Baskin. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
1962. Print.

Homer. The Homeric Hymns. Trans. Apostolos N. Athanassakis.
London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976. Print.

The papers used in this book include 120g Magnani Arturo
Buttercream, a variety of Japanese rice papers, 90lb Stonehenge Fawn, and Yupo paper. Images are drawn with ink pen and colored pencil. The printing methods used include monoprinting and silkscreen. The book is wrapped in silk and the boards are made from 1/4” MDF and 1/8” hardboard. The adhesives used include Jade glue and Gudy-O. Aluminum posts are used where parts pivot. The fonts used include Quadrata Roma Medium Oblique 25pt and Calisto MT Regular and Italic, 30pt.

This book is one of three in the series: Hermes, the Epiphytes.

Copyright © 2014

[signed]

Tammy Nguyen