La Chascona, by Jane Salmons

Medusa Matilde, by Diego Rivera (Mexico). 1942.

La Chascona
 
The light is Pisco brandy
aged in an oak barrel
on the backstreets of Bellavista.
 
A flute of champagne
fizzes on a mosaic tile.
She perches on a Fornasetti
stool in the Summer Bar,
her long legs crossed
waiting for hora del coctel.
 
Her hair is unruly red,
curled like the paths
that lead to secret portholes,
incognito nooks.
A gift – lapis lazuli necklace
nestles against her breasts.
 
Her tremulous face
gazes out,
eyebrows arched, lips pursed
as if ready to sing a Sonato
to the gilded mountains,
while he remains silent
like an hidalgo on a coat of arms.
 
 Jane Salmons

Poet's note: La Chascona means wild-haired woman in Spanish.  It is also the name of the house Pablo Neruda built for his lover Matilde Urrutia.

Jane Salmons is a teacher living and working in Stourbridge in England.  She is currently studying an MA in Creative Writing and has had poems published in various online magazines including ‘Ink, Sweat and Tears’ and ‘Algebra of Owls’.  Aside from writing poetry, in her precious free time she enjoys photography and creating handmade photomontage collage.