Page 7 - Contrast1998

Vermeer Meditating on His Girl -"vith a Pearl Earring

when did she twist away, fully conscious
from yellow oil gliding onto canvas--

last brush touch on the liquid of her eyes
and she blazed into herself

I do not know the color of her hair
and yet she is more real to me than the grey

wife or daughters I have never painted
light layering, orbiting that central grain

of ache, coalescing into timelessness
the pearl

forever other, dwelling two-dimensional in Delft
I am flat, yearning towards her space
wondering at the longing on her face

the word unspoken hanging from her lips
I painted her-and yet I do not know
what she was going to say ...

I did not know I was building a bridge
with my brush and palette knife
until I saw it burning in her eyes
Joy K. Hoffman

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