detail: apple family II: georgia o'keeffe
This Family Called Apple
by
M.J. Iuppa
after Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting Apple Family–2
Plumped
up and pinched,
rosy-cheeks
of a kind,
ample
curves, breasts
and
buttocks nestled
side
by side, silent
picture
of health,
not
knowing
what
could be growing
wrong
on the inside. When
lost
in thought in the orchard
I
plucked their glossy bodies–
let
them fall into my canvas
apron–
ignoring your warnings–
invisible
bruises show up after
the
snap of leaf and stem. Now
which
will go first? Taut
skin
resists, shines
against
the bite
that
changed paradise–
sudden
waters, flesh, seeds,
unlocked
stars– the secrets
of
many in this chaste household.
~ first published in
Language of Color: Writers Respond to the Paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe (Big Pencil Press)
