Well-dressed gentlemen, outside in summer in hats and shoes.
They stare out onto this carnival plain like water buffalo
over untread rice fields
Bright green hopes, awaiting glory
A contrast in expression and demeanor
How normal that while one anxiously wills himself to foresee his success,
the other leans back, a contented smile
drawn like string cheese across his
pruny cheeks, a Biblical
Mary and Martha at the Lakehurst tournament
I struggle to choose between old Harry and Claude
Like choosing a house or a husband or shoes
I want to walk with them, ask
Claude why he leans,
ask Harry why he smiles.
Like Claude, I grow anxious
Will I be immortalized in a painting like him, and
even then,
have no time for a string cheese smile to
peel across my pruny cheeks?
Pardon me for how much this poem struggles. It was a difficult assignment, using phrases from an existing poem and drawing inspiration from a painting at the FSU Fine Arts Gallery.
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