Sunlight on Shadow’
Oil on Canvas
William Merritt Chase; 1884
One remembers the moment
past all forgetting:
The pale pink cotton one wore,
limp in the heat;
The languid cologne on one’s hankie
against the cheek
(Not quite masking his musky,
insistent cigarette);
The strain of hammock hemp
measuring one’s right hip;
Annie, the cook, banging something
by the water barrel.
When one’s carefully-wrapped life
becomes unsealed
The moment of breaking
burns the brain:
One can close one’s eyes and
feel the pillow itch the cheek,
Hear one’s heart begin to rise,
see the flickering of dapple
Sunlight and shadow
on brown dust
in the fresh paint
of the mind.
“Sunlight on Shadow” was written about a painting I saw in the DeYoung. It is in my third book, THERE IS THERE IS THERE, 1992.
Judith Offer has had two daughters, five books of poetry and dozens of plays. (Eighteen of the latter, including six musicals, have been produced.) She has read her poetry at scores of poetry venues, but is particularly delighted to have been included in the Library of Congress series and on “All Things Considered”, on NPR. Her writing reflects her childhood in a large Catholic family—with some Jewish roots—her experience as teacher, community organizer, musician, historian, gardener, and all-purpose volunteer, and her special fascination with her roles of wife and mother. Her most recent book of poetry, called DOUBLE CROSSING, is poems about Oakland, California, where she lives with her husband, Stuart.
More detailed information is available at www.JudithOffer.com
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