La Femme Qui Pleure

[William Haskins]

i dreamt you were
a picasso
and i was
a matisse.

we hung on opposite
gallery walls
of intersecting
gallery halls,

separated by
a parade of
clicking heels and
voyeur eyes.

your every angle:
stark, severe,
peering through
fragmented tears,

you begged
for my tranquility
and offered me
your madness.

[pseud]

Hello William and welcome -

Good of you to use artists most have heard of - Matisse and Picasso. I am intrigued, however, I see the picasso, but what makes you Matisse? Might make for another stanza.

I really liked the idea of imagining yourself as a painting, rather than in a painting, which is what I'm prone to do.

Oh and,

separated by
a parade of
clicking heels and
voyeur eyes.

was my favorite part, especially the use of "voyeur" at the end. Like the classic example of 'living in a fishbowl,' eh?

- Caleb

[William Haskins]

thanks very much for reading.

i've always been intrigued by the relationship, indeed the immense love and respect, between picasso and matisse—especially in that picasso never hesitated to embrace the ugliness of humanity in his work, while matisse strove unflinchingly for beauty.

the contradictory approaches, and results, of their work made for an inviting context for me. that picasso's "crying woman" would see an unreachable oasis in the sublime calm of a matisse, but have nothing to offer by her own torment, seems both tragic and, somehow, poignant.

[barrie]

I liked the way you labelled Picasso annd Matisse in the last verse, mad and tranquil.

Two verses stood out with their rhythm -

'we hung on opposite
gallery walls
of intersecting
gallery halls,'

and

'your every angle:
stark, severe,
peering through
fragmented tears,' - Good description of cubism, stark, severe angles.

The last verse did the most for me - It got me imagining what chimera would emerge if their two styles were somehow combined. Would we have a mad tranquility, or a tranquil madness?

nice one

Barrie

[camus]

Welcome William,

Good idea for a poem, nice first post.

I would say though if you are to rhyme, perhaps keep it consistent? unless of course its internal, then you fuck about all over the place.

"separated by
a parade of
clicking heels and
voyeur eyes."

Grabbed me, I can hear the echoes.

Although aren't all art viewers voyeurs?

Look forward to more.

cheers
Kris

[William Haskins]

thanks so much for reading and for the wonderful comments.