Egon Schiele, Seated Male Nude, by Andrew Hanson

Seated Male Nude, by Egon Schiele (Austria). 1910.

Egon Schiele, Seated Male Nude
 
In the studio, shadows stretch
and sprawl
across the easels;
a pale array of colours
mottles the torn and hanging
canvases. The air eats
the morsels of food
that remain, while coffee
colors the palette itself.
And after darkness engulfs the room,
light bulbs bulge into
brightness, and the shadows
cleave to their corresponding
objects, caressing the extensions
of themselves. Hands
and feet, once numb, dull
into nubs at his concentration,
vermilion, over the days, spiders
the whites of his eyes. He draws quick,
ascetic breaths, not drawing—but flaying
the paper, carving figures into
existence. He climbs from his seat,
palming his protrusions. I am
fierce and angular.

Andrew Hanson

Andrew Hanson is an English Literature student at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.  His work has appeared three times in his college literary magazine. He was born and raised in Miami, Florida and grew up careening around the Caribbean—catching fish and spearfishing. As of late, he has turned his attention to Medieval Literature and Philosophy, studying as a visiting student at Oxford University.