​Matisse’s Conversation, by ​Mary Buchinger

The Conversation, by Henri Matisse (France) 1908-1912

​Matisse’s Conversation
                          
where to put that chair?
the woman’s too big, 
no floor to meet a wall. 
the chair’s blue on blue 
will have to do. 
she’ll face him straight. 
 
the striped pajamas must be 
painted over, pare him down. 
keep the neck of the larger 
man two stripes ago. 
 
there. both diminished now.
 
her flesh  startles – so pale.
angle the chest. thrust heart upward 
as if to beat nearer her rigid throat. 
weight her down with black and green, 
tie her to gate and landscape. 
a hint of fleur de lis throughout all three 
 
their faces? flat. mostly empty.
midnight eyes. he gazes down.
 
his straight lines taut, broken 
only by his elbow. 
a pink-yellow wrist. 
 
one of her arms disappears into the chair. 
she is bound
he heads out of the canvas.
neither has feet. 
 
he, she done, redone, 
still unfinished. 
 
what holds the eye? the world 
in the window between them
shall say the most, the loudest.

​Mary Buchinger
​
​Mary Buchinger is the author of four collections of poetry, including e i n f ü h l u n g/in feeling, Aerialist, and Navigating the Reach (forthcoming). Her poetry has appeared in  AGNI, DIAGRAM, Gargoyle, Salamander, Slice Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Massachusetts Review, and elsewhere. She is president of the New England Poetry Club and professor of English and communication studies at MCPHS University in Boston; her website is www.MaryBuchinger.com.