gray line, by Dane Lyn

Gray Lines with Blue, Black, and Yellow, by Georgia O'Keeffe (USA) 1923

gray line 
​
“Georgia O’Keeffe is over-rated,” I overhear the museum patron behind me say, and I cannot help but internally agree
Yet she catches my eye, not once but a multiplicity of times
But I garner the courage to approach her, to marvel at all she has laid bare for me to see
My breath catches as I recognize that she has bloomed under my sybaritic gaze
Plump and timid her long white petals curve and fold sensually, harboring a hypnotic power  
They spread invitingly, revealing gossamer mouths of blue veins absorbing sensation
My fingers slowly trace the paper-thin fronds to the pod where the rush of blood infuses life
Each layer more alluring, I seek the elixir, the nectar within 
My face buries in the field of colour overcome by the taste of the fleshy pulp hidden within the flower
Exotic, captivating, her feelings overlap with mine and I cannot tell us apart
Our secrets have mingled and we are tangled pistils, without stamens to get in our way
I seek her centre, where the fragrance is strongest and I can drown in the vibes
Waves of her consciousness blossom with each new response and I am now helpless under her spell
The moment that germinated with a gentle painting has now culminated in a momentous monsoon of floral spasms 
My flower arches her slender back then as if a storm had come and passed she sinks into the bed and sighs.

Dane Lyn

Dane Lyn (they/them) is a queer, educator, poet, and glitter enthusiast with an MFA from Lindenwood University. Find them in Southern California with their partner, playing music too loud, constructing blanket forts, caring for their menagerie of teens, snakes, lizards, dogs, rabbits, and cats, and ridding their shoes of beach sand. Dane’s work can be seen in Gnashing Teeth, Closed Eye Open, Anti-Heroin Chic and Nymph Publication, links to which are all at DaneLyn.net