artwork: edward hopper
Summertime
by
Mary Jo Balistreri
after Edward Hopper
Let
me linger a while longer
in
the sun, this warm summer breeze.
On
the threshold, before you brand me
with
your label, I rest my arm on stone.
You
call me easy. To say I could have chosen
differently
is too easy.
Let
me linger a while longer.
I
like the way my straw hat protects,
its
ribbon trailing down
my
back. I’m beautiful in my white summer dress,
good
patent leather shoes.
You
too are capable of what you disown.
But
let me linger while you stare.
You
see a naked woman in a sheer white dress.
Big
tits and fleshy thighs, the dress a cover up,
a
come on.
But
let me linger while you stare.
I
am stony determination, black isolation.
The
confines of my prison and my loneliness,
my
bare subsistence—I offer what I can.
Let
me linger a while longer, my full red lips,
almost
ready, my foot about to step down.
~
first published in Mobius: The Poetry Magazine
