And What Are You Looking At? by Mary K. Lindberg

Portrait of Herodiade, by Juana Romani (Italy) 1923

And What Are You Looking At?

And what are you looking at, man dressed in
a gray suit, loose blue tie, tight trousers standing
alone in this museum room staring at me.

Is it my strapless, tight black velvet dress,
cinched at the waist with red and gold, that
may be falling down?​

My hair? It’s longer than you can see,
actually auburn, which, as you may know,
is much sexier and more daring than red.

Are you thinking about how my daughter
Salome demanded the head of John the Baptist?
Relax, that could never happen. After all,

I’m only pretending to be Herodiade;
it was Julia Romani’s idea. In truth, 
I’m the artist and model in one.

Those glasses make you look profound, wise.
Even attractive.  Be straight with me. What 
color are my eyes? Is it hard to see them?

Romani painted them in shadow, to
make me appear enigmatic to viewers
like you. After all, a mystery is always

more alluring, don’t you agree? I see
your smile now; you are becoming more
alive, indeed!

What about my lips? Does the colour match
the long tresses of my hair? You’re still mute,
stunned by how my appearance in oil can speak.

What if I were to walk out of this frame
right now, glide over to where you’re standing,
tell you to your face that you inflame me?

Mary K. Lindberg
​
​NB: Herodiade is the Biblical wife of Herod ll, rule of Judea, and mother of Salome (15 BC-39 BC).

Mary K. Lindberg explores links between art, music, dance, literature and nature, as well as reviving Pompeii’s victim’s of the 79 CE Mount Vesuvius eruption in her poetry collection Dance of Atoms (Oakledge Press, December 2025). Poems published in Beloit Poetry Journal, Gallery&Studio, Evening Street Review, TER. Member-of-the-Month, Poetry Society of NY, December 2025. Grand Prize, Dancing Poetry Contest (2021). Prizes in Ina Coolbrith Circle contests. Chapbook, The Tang of Glue (Puddinghouse, 2006). She enjoys the challenges of ekphrastic writing.