The Voynich Manuscript Deborah Flanagan i. sir bourbon gardenThe FBI cracks the codes of Ezra Pound; listening to his radio broadcasts during the war, they hear “Confucius” as“confusion,” “Céline” as“Stalin,” “suburban garden” as“Sir Bourbon Garden.” Pound appreciates their play with language. ii. dr. subtleI visit Dr. Subtle, Ben Jonson’s quintessential alchemist. A Renaissance man—astrologer, geographer, dabbler in magic—he communicates with angels. He’s an expert in cryptography; I bring him the Voynich manuscript. “Give me the code, I need to findwhat lurks beneaththe surface of the page.” “I’ll have this back to you in a week.” Making a toast and shouting, “Maktub!” he asks if I’m ready for the rapture. I nod, sipping blueberry schnapps. “Sometimes there’s a God so quickly.” Dr. Subtle winks. “This manuscriptis the happy hunting groundfor minds that have losttheir balance.” Meaning disintegratesinto flakes of dry ink. This isn’t what I want to hear. iii. fifth-grade nudie picturesIn fifth grade I drew sexy pictures for my friends; the sexual act consists of a man in a fancy tuxedo, sitting next to a woman in a black negligeeand silk stockings on a flowered couch. I sold the drawings to my friends for a quarter. iv. we are all driven by the needto conceal sensitive information. Deborah Flanagan has contributed extensively to the nonprofit sector as the director of development for a range of arts organizations. At City Parks Foundation she is creating the reading series CityParks Poetry, and at the Academy of American Poets, she helped envision the Online Poetry Classroom. A Reiki master, she has a private practice and works with patients at Beth Isreal Medical Center. She lives in the East Village in New York City. “The Voynich Manuscript” appears in our Summer 2009 issue.