A Nun —Henriette Browne (1859); oil on canvas; 92.4 x 73.6 cm Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti Bergamo, Italy The time of day set still as stone for prayer Nones, that ninth hour after dawn, that place I’m looking, wimple wound around her head Drawn to shadow under chin, the sheer black habit Of praying, the pages with their red rims That long path on the way to finding grace. Her heavy lids like louvers closing in On infinity. She seems a novice-- A cover girl for nuns—that parchment robe The unity within the whole The composition triangulated Each shape solid and weightless, so balanced Something so pellucid I remember Kneeling in a pew—nave, nun, that pale light— Sharon Tracey Sharon Tracey is a writer, editor and author of the poetry collection, What I Remember Most Is Everything (ALL CAPS PUBLISHING, 2017). Her poems have appeared in Ekphrasis, The Ekphrastic Review, Naugatuck River Review, Silkworm, and are forthcoming in Canary and Common Ground Review. Art and nature are recurring themes in her work. She has enjoyed a varied career as an environmentalist, policy analyst, editor and communications director. She is currently working on a series of poems featuring women artists of the past five centuries.
1 Comment
Billy Howell-Sinnard
11/22/2017 09:59:10 am
I really liked this poem. I think it would have more likes if the ending were stronger.
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The Ekphrastic Review
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January 2021
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