The Artist and His First Wife Under the Honeysuckle Bower
Beautiful, she is. And not so shy
As you would think on first looking
At that charming face: see her hand,
How it covers his, how it hints
At pride, confidence, bodies touching.
And if his strong hosed calves
Suggest something rather darker than
Her sweet (if knowing) mien does,
Sweat and crumpled sheets and stale air
Hung with small stifled moans,
Bear in mind that this was
No angelic thing, but a smart
And bright young gentlewoman,
Born to an Antwerp patrician.
She must have been able to talk
And hold her own before people,
As befit the humanist’s daughter
And talented painter’s wife.
So much for this happy vision
Of handsome newlyweds.
She died young, her face sharper
And less luminous as strokes
Yield, as life will, to the shadows.
Laura Chalar is a 28 year old Uruguayan poet, short-story writer and lawyer. Born in Montevideo, she currently lives in Buenos Aires.
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