Judith Slaying Holofernes, by Sharon Tracey

Judith Slaying Holofernes (Naples version), by Artemisa Gentileschi (Italy). 1612-1613.

Judith Slaying Holofernes

Let us walk down the hall to the murder scene
with our heroines—Judith and Abra—busy in the bedchamber 
where Holofernes lies stretched across the mattress,
chiaroscuro controlling this biblical story

the artist has brought his blood to the foreground 
so we might smell its sticky sweetness 
see in detail the rivulets streaking the bed sheets, 
weigh who tips the scales: revenge or forgiveness

Judith wears a royal blue dress to mark the occasion 
dabs of pigment push her sleeves up muscular arms, 
her left hand outstretched, pressed to his head 
her right hand holds the cross-shaped sword

the maidservant Abra, in her carmine dress, assists 
the widow’s hand, both braced against the frame 
until the work is done. Have you ever held a knife 
and thought how some light might save your life?

Sharon Tracey

Sharon Tracey is a writer, editor and author of What I Remember Most Is Everything (ALL CAPS PUBLISHING, 2017), her first full-length collection of poetry. Her poems have appeared in Naugatuck River Review, Silkworm, The Skinny Poetry Journal and are forthcoming in Common Ground Review and Ekphrasis. Art and nature are recurring themes in her work. She has enjoyed a varied career as an environmentalist, policy analyst, editor and communications director. She is currently working on a series of poems featuring women artists of the past five centuries.