Anselm Kiefer's Book with Wings

My nose is running from a bad cold, my hands are freezing from the January weather, and now my loins are stirring from ogling the cute thirty-something lad next to me. We are both looking at Anselm Kiefer's "Book with Wings" at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Just the right thing to do at a moment like this.

This book of ancient tales and secrets is anchored to earth. Made of lead from the roof of the Cologne Cathedral, it is ashen and slightly rumpled, the survivor of devastations.

But just look at those wings, so powerful and magnificent: 13 feet wide, strong and athletic, ready to ascend effortlessly, gracefully!

This book is like me--with my running nose, cold hands, and hard on; with my own tales and secrets, devastations and dreams--a border creature, made for both earth and sky.