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

4/15/2020

6 Comments

 
Picture
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/

6 Comments
Richard Logan
4/15/2020 10:43:35 am

I love this poem! Thank you for putting it up.

Reply
Peggy Landsman link
4/15/2020 08:08:26 pm

It makes me so happy to know. Thanks for telling me.

Reply
Kyle Laws
4/15/2020 11:15:15 am

What a joyful poem in the same way the painting is!

Reply
Peggy Landsman link
4/15/2020 08:07:03 pm

I'm so glad you like the poem. And thanks for yours, too. It certainly brings back memories....

Reply
Kata Pierce-Morgan
4/22/2020 12:43:35 pm

I will be sending this to my Golden Corpse dancers for Zoom rehearsal tomorrow. As we develop our next Heaven or Hell show about genocide of the human spirit, I have been challenging them to go beyond a peripheral glance at the props, the costuming, the sound score, to go deeper into the visuals I present choreographically. It comes from the gut. My gut tells me to share your poem with them, Peggy.

Reply
Peggy Landsman link
4/22/2020 12:52:25 pm

I can't wait to hear how they respond!

Reply

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