Rene Magritte, The Lovers II (1928)
And yet white
is best described by gray
bird by stone
sunflowers
in Decemberlove poems of old
were descriptions of the flesh
described this and that
for instance eyelashesand yet red
should be described
by gray the sun by rain
poppies in November
lips by nightthe most tangible
description of bread
is a description of hunger
in it is
the damp porous core
the warm interior
sunflowers at night
the breasts belly thighs of Cybelea spring-clear
transparent description
of water
is a description of thirst
ashes
desert
it produces a mirage
clouds and trees move into
the mirrorLack hunger
absence
of flesh
is a description of love
is a modern love poem– Tadeusz Różewicz, Draft of a Modern Love Poem
This one’s for you, Laura. Thank you for the painting request – it took me a while, but it was a lot of fun hunting for the perfect poem to pair with the painting. What would you have picked?
Yay! This poem is perfect – I’ve never read it before! I think I might have picked Emily Dickinson’s 1484:
We shall find the Cube of the Rainbow.
Of that, there is no doubt.
But the Arc of a Lover’s conjecture
Eludes the finding out.
Oh that’s a really great one! I’ve never read that one before, but it’s a really good fit for the painting too. This was so much fun, thanks again for the suggestion 🙂