The Ekphrastic Review
  • Ekphrastic
  • About
  • Workshops
  • Writers
  • Give
    • Merch
  • TERcets Podcast
  • Ekphrastic Writing Challenges
    • Challenge Archives
  • Book Shelf
    • Ekphrastic Book Shelf
    • Contributors' Book Shelf
  • Ebooks
  • Prizes
  • Submit
  • Contact

Bathsheba, Bathing, by Sarah Russell

4/3/2018

2 Comments

 
Picture
Bathsheba, by Jean Leon Gerome (France). 1899.

Bathsheba, Bathing

She doesn't know King David watches,
doesn't know his lust — blind 
to her virtue, her marriage.

I serve this most beautiful of women,
make the water warm, the soap fragrant.  
I pour sweet oil between her breasts,
watch it drip on thighs and belly.

She is wed to Uriah, away at war, 
but she’s lonely for men's praise,
looks often in the basin
to measure her own beauty.

I fear the king's desire.  Their eyes meet, 
and I know his will is hers as well.  
God will smite them in their coupling. 

What will become of me who keeps 
their secrets?  Are my loyalties to king 
or God or to my mistress whom I love 
as David loves her, as Uriah loves her.  
My secrets must remain more secret still.

Sarah Russell                            

Sarah Russell has returned to poetry after a career teaching, writing and editing academic prose. Her work has been published  in Kentucky Review, Red River Review, Ekphrastic Review, Misfit Magazine, and Psaltery and Lyre, among other print and online journals and anthologies.  She has won awards from Goodreads, Poetry Nook, and is a 2017 Pushcart Prize nominee.  She blogs at https://SarahRussellPoetry.net.
2 Comments
Alarie Tennille link
4/5/2018 03:32:29 pm

I was holding my breath as I read this. Russell does a great job of holding us in the suspense felt by the servant. She also reminds us that our choices and actions ripple out to affect other lives as well as our own. How easy it is for those in power to make others powerless.

Reply
Sarah Russell link
5/5/2018 06:01:48 pm

Thanks so much, Alarie. And thanks for sharing this on Facebook!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This site uses cookies to deliver your best navigation experience this time and next. Continuing here means you consent to cookies. Thank you.
    The Ekphrastic Review
    Picture

    ​​Find a writer, artist, or poem, etc. by searching here:
    Current Prompt
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture



    ​
    ​Archives
    ​

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Lorette C. Luzajic theekphrasticreview@gmail.com 

  • Ekphrastic
  • About
  • Workshops
  • Writers
  • Give
    • Merch
  • TERcets Podcast
  • Ekphrastic Writing Challenges
    • Challenge Archives
  • Book Shelf
    • Ekphrastic Book Shelf
    • Contributors' Book Shelf
  • Ebooks
  • Prizes
  • Submit
  • Contact