gothic funk
transfixed on that window
the tallest point
between two
people
one who looks away from the middle to her, i don't want to be here, left
one who's proud to be a farmer, even on portrait day, he looks at me
transfixed on that window
it sets the time
it bespeaks the architecture
it is graced with the curve in an arch
on a hard-edged linear home
curves appear in all the usual places
the cameo between the V of her collar
his glasses and the top of his head
and unassuming traces
the pitchfork is an arch upside-down
her chin lays out the shape of her
upside-down arch head
his is not so obvious, he looks at me
curves - the piping of her apron draping her frail neckline
curves - the stitching on the bib of his sturdy coveralls
his face slightly foregrounding her
i choose to look beyond them
transfixed on that window
it brings the eye upward
away from the subjects
of the portrait
he suddenly looks sad,
slightly pouty in his jowl
she's had tight lips all along
transfixed on that window
the time is late 19th century
gothic hues of black
a window should let the light in
but this one is covered
mourn the gothic hues
of a day in the life of an american
i can hear the rooster's accent cockle
woman who doesn't want to be there anymore
and a man who knows he will be
for all eternity in this gothic funk
_________________________________________________________________© dlc july 30, 2006
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| American Gothic |
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| oil on beaverboard, 74.3 × 62.4 cm |
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