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| Jacopo Bellini Cupid with Young Satyr on Pegasus before 1470 drawing on vellum Musée du Louvre |
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| Piero di Cosimo Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs (detail) ca. 1500-1515 oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| Giulio Romano Satyr playing Pipes ca. 1527-28 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Bernardino Luini St Anthony and the Centaur before 1532 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| School of Fontainebleau Satyrs pursuing Nymphs turned into Trees 16th century drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| attributed to il Pordenone (Giovanni Antonio Licinio) Satyr and Satyress before 1539 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| il Pordenone (Giovanni Antonio Licinio) Youth resisting Satyr's Embrace before 1539 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Girolamo da Santacroce Banquet with Satyr Musicians ca. 1545 oil on panel Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht |
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| Michelangelo Buonarroti Head of a Satyr before 1564 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Anonymous Dutch Artist Hercules overcoming Centaur ca. 1600 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| attributed to Bartolomeo Schedoni Sleeping Nymph surprised by Satyrs before 1615 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Jacob Jordaens Satyr dining with Peasants ca. 1635 drawing, with watercolor Musée du Louvre |
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| Carlo Maratti Satyrs harvesting Grapes ca. 1660 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Charles Le Brun Centaur drawing Bow ca. 1672-74 drawing (study for cupola decoration) Musée du Louvre |
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| Charles Le Brun Bacchus and Satyr before 1690 drawing (study for painting) Musée du Louvre |
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| Giandomenico Tiepolo Punchinello abducted by Centaur ca. 1800 drawing Musée du Louvre |
from Counting to Six Million
You burst into the room, fifth grade facts burning your tongue
like Moses' coal. 100 people die every minute, you tell me
as I turn down the TV; and then, gleefully: 50 since I've been
as I turn down the TV; and then, gleefully: 50 since I've been
in this room, and now 75 and now . . . O my little census bureau,
my prince of darkness, my prophet of numbers, riddle me this:
how many grains of sand before you can call it a desert?
And where were you the day Kennedy was shot? CNN, interrupting,
asks. My grandmother clicks her tongue like she's chopping onions
in the old country. Poor boy, she says, pointing,
And there's John-John again, waving that little flag, still saluting.
* * *
There are more people breathing this very moment, my son insists,
than have ever died. He's home from college, so I don't double-check.
He's driven a long way to surprise me on my birthday. Are you sure
you can't stay, I ask, holding him close. He looks full of hope;
a woman I've never seen before at his side. Welcome home,
I tell my wife. She's just turned twenty-four. I'm childless,
fatherless. It's the day of the funeral; Nineteen years until
the twin towers. Three thousand since Moses murdered
the overseer. But that's not what I'm thinking. One, two, three,
she says, guiding me inside. . . .
– Richard Michelson (2006)