Chagall's Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers, by Peggy Landsman

Self Portrait with Seven Fingers, by Marc Chagall (France, b. Belarus) 1913

Chagall's Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers
 
There is something about Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers,
Something about the Eiffel Tower peeking through the window.
There's something about the je ne sais quoi that lingers.
 
Dressed to the nines, Chagall's a model for dandies and swingers,
From the pink rose in his lapel to the foppish pink tie that's tied into a bow.
There is something about Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers.
 
His seven curving fingers float. "Mit alle zibn finger!"
One for every colour of the (Roy G. Biv) rainbow.
There's something about the je ne sais quoi that lingers.
 
I've read thousands of words about the bringers
Of culture from villages where moody cows grow.
There is something about Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers.
 
If Marc wasn't a painter, he'd be one of those singers
Who juggles while singing of impossible woe.
There's something about the je ne sais quoi that lingers.
 
I hear church bells ringing off the canvas (real ding-dong-dingers!)
Of the painting on his easel that he's painting so....
There is something about Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers.
There's something about the je ne sais quoi that lingers. 
 
Peggy Landsman
 
Peggy Landsman is the author of a poetry chapbook, To-wit To-woo (Foothills Publishing). Her work has been published in many literary journals and anthologies, including The Muse Strikes Back (Story Line Press), Breathe: 101 Contemporary Odes (C&R Press), Nasty Women Poets (Lost Horse Press), SWWIM Every Day, The Ekphrastic Review, and Mezzo Cammin. A full-length collection of her poetry is forthcoming from Unsolicited Press. She lives in South Florida where she swims in the warm Atlantic Ocean every chance she gets. https://peggylandsman.wordpress.com/