Dora Responds to Picasso’s “Portrait of Dora Maar Sitting” by Robert Wynne

Portrait of Dora Maar Seated, by Pablo Picasso, 1937.

Dora Responds to Picasso’s “Portrait of Dora Maar Sitting”
 
Pablo knew me so well – how
my body always disappointed me
with its soft edges, how I hated
being round as this world
 
but so small. My breasts
always agree with each other,
holding less mystery than even
this equatorial waist
 
which has never proved
inviting enough to filter beaches
into being. And my dull hair
is not thick as any great thought –
 
the kind that barely fits in your head
no matter its shape. My eyes
I had always loved; but now
I see what I was missing:
 
the new right one’s perfect circle
is wide enough to see
the end of everything
and fear has become
 
a distant memory
because I’ve found
the diamond of my left eye
is hard enough to cut
 
through reality itself
until imagination
is all that remains.

Robert Wynne

Robert Wynne earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University.  A former co-editor of Cider Press Review, he has published 6 chapbooks, and 3 full-length books of poetry, the most recent being “Self-Portrait as Odysseus,” published in 2011 by Tebot Bach Press.  He’s won numerous prizes, and his poetry has appeared in magazines and anthologies throughout North America.  He lives in Burleson, TX with his wife and 2 rambunctious dogs. His online home is www.rwynne.com.