Oranges
in Tissue Paper
oil on canvas,
William J. McCloskey, ca 1890
Viewed at M.
H. de Young Museum, San Francisco
Longing
for harmony,
I
am drawn to the glow
of
these seven oranges
resting
on a polished tabletop
before
the sheen
of
a plush blue-black drape.
Three
are wrapped in splitting
bright
white tissue paper,
three
are unwrapped, whole,
one
has the skin slit
into
six pointed segments
peeled
back to reveal
the
creamy white pith clinging
to
the soft, just opened
orange
inner flesh.
Yet
this harmony of forms
will
not stay still, will not
be
held by canvas or by frame,
but
spins in the eye, turns
in
the chest, a movement
gyroscopic,
as un-
expected
as
a
stolen kiss
that
startles and then vanishes,
yet
cannot be undone.
Link
to image of painting:
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