Mary Cassatt, by Jo Taylor

The Child's Bath, by Mary Cassatt (USA), 1893.

Mary Cassatt

Mary, you forged new worlds.
Choosing art over marriage, motherhood, and men,
You created life in the sphere
To which you were oft times
Restricted.

You painted us absorbed
In our work,
Our children,
Our craft
And defined our moments
Of self,
Solitude,
And strength.

Untraditional Mary Cassatt
Who valued tradition  
With strokes as discerning as our mothers’ voices,
You elevated us to Milton’s Aonian heights.
We are commanding and dignified,
At ease on your canvas.

Jo Taylor

Jo is a 35-year teacher whose favourite genre in the classroom is poetry.  In the past several years she has found herself writing poems alongside her students, and their submissions of their work to one-line journals and other contests have encouraged her to do the same. Jo’s favourite hobbies are writing and hanging out with her two-year-old grandson. She and her husband live in a small community outside of Atlanta.