Still Life in the Physical World
We desire this ripening —
green pears in southern windows,
shiitake mushrooms nested in a basket
from the corner grocery —
all the abundance of duty
and want.
No, what I want is more.
How our lives collide
like strange sketches,
your small talk no different
than a woman’s. You are
my double, the mirror
message I leave for
the visitor who pauses
in the hallway.
The mind creates the world,
but the body inhabits it,
draws all the edges we count,
such as index finger
tracing background air.
Or, say we walk beside the river
on this brilliant day. How different
to have hair defined by tree,
clothes outlined by water.
Still, there is always the body
displayed against sheets — pale
green or deep lavender. And
there is this, the best
any artist could ever do:
the body outlined by body —
arm across thigh, head
to belly; this is the portrait
we most desire, each of us
separate, revealed
by the other.
Gayle Kaune
First published in Still Life in the Physical World, Blue Begonia Press