CHLOÊ LANGFORD
(transcendental authority)
the lord is giving time to his creature
definition before and after
two things compared to each other
before the flood loaded with life
the lord is reaching out downloading
the holy spirit into adam’s finger
adam is discerning the abasement
of free will the freedom of some profanity
barbarity he’s making up the world of turmoil
michaelangelo’s high definition muscular angels
in a way he’s casting off a snake and that's intentional
crescendo of negative emotions fear agony death ankles
knees the folded up arm that he gave to christ
michelangelo he’s gna play with the detail
building down and layering the accumulation
of soil restored put together; its becoming more
crowded pagan nero his head split like an egg
zygote face dragged across the frame tapestries
tapestries are no rugs fine art that rustles
painted in Rome and shipped to Brussels
twisted snail torn slain swan the world
laid out like a wrinkled carpet rivers
and towers of muscles pouring down
curtains pinned he peers down upon
us his brother biting his elbow behind
even pinky fingers uncannily ripped
by horsetail brushes moses parting
the sea shiny black helmets emerging
from the floods like beatle’s shells
or blood grapes and beneath jesus
a bearded man holds the shrunken skin
of a man his face crumpled sinking beneath
clouds and at their feet the baby curled up
with the softest goat known eyes turned up
mouths hung open under angels with hands
and arms folded in paper poses and papillon
wings flooded folded the eyes on that guy
the most beautiful jewels and gems are hidden
continuity columns of ham ok lots of people
are leaving broken scars left on the body
he did that in a year and a half the body
is where we saw it this is the memorial
tomb the hall of maps his virtues wisdom
helmet wise and faithful lebanese canadian
italian half jewish tour guide and a sea
of clear plastic chairs the perspective is radial
Notes
1. (transcendental authority) includes quotes from Ribal, a tour guide working at the Vatican in July 2025.
Chloê Langford is an artist who works with writing, performance and video games. They live in Berlin, Germany. They are a part of the experimental video game collective Fantasia Malware.
