Stilleven [1]
Her body
on the table—
furniture presents
her alongside fruit, silver, salt. [what is this centerpiece—]
Her body,
on the table
appears as a semi-colon—
her knees softly curl to her hairline;
she rests in or out of breath.
She does not move; the table does not move;
the image is there all at once even as it unfolds in time.
Over and over. [scene in duration]
Her body is, still—
simply positioned and yet
surrounded by symbols.
Each herb and stem of stemware carefully placed to be read
and then exchanged for words or wanting. [the whole staging fecund and wound]
And still,
her body, waiting to be seen.
Even still, she holds, holds [is this arrangement to protect, portray,
the pose. or make meaning of her body?]
All at once and over and over
and over.
Still even on the table, remark/ repast— [against white tulips and nodding poppies]
her skin is the color of what has touched it;
her body is the shape of what she bears— [or carries]
over and over.
Here, on the table,
she holds herself, still. [parts remembered together]
Her body could almost be any
body, but her body— [a part
only hers, still. of the table]
In the center of the table,
in the center of the room,
she is composed;
here is the image again— [at once over and over]
her body