Denise Bennett
Renoir's Diary: 14th June 1881
After "On the Terrace" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
It is a hot June afternoon,
skiffs glide on lazy blue water
green tendrils soften into iron railings
on the terrace where two sisters wait.
One in sonorous red hat,
covering her copper beech hair -
figure clung with black shantung silk,
hands folded in her lap,
reminds me of dark winter pansies
I used to paint on porcelain plates.
The other - a small child,
with fresh nectarine skin
stands stiffly starched, white smock
tides of flowers rising from her hat:
daisies, roses, cornflowers -
colour of her eyes.
I tease out smiles
from the tight seeds of their crimson mouths.
skiffs glide on lazy blue water
green tendrils soften into iron railings
on the terrace where two sisters wait.
One in sonorous red hat,
covering her copper beech hair -
figure clung with black shantung silk,
hands folded in her lap,
reminds me of dark winter pansies
I used to paint on porcelain plates.
The other - a small child,
with fresh nectarine skin
stands stiffly starched, white smock
tides of flowers rising from her hat:
daisies, roses, cornflowers -
colour of her eyes.
I tease out smiles
from the tight seeds of their crimson mouths.
Denise Bennett's pamphlet of poems, American Dresses, is published by Flarestack.
Page(s) 29
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