Musee De L'Orangerie on a Wednesday, by Jackie Sizemore

Musee De L'Orangerie on a Wednesday
​
after Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, 1897-1898
 
lilies peek from
blue softening centered
flash strokes
bridge unfocused in the distance
like it is out of phase
with the rest of us
 
willows dip caution into
shadowed corners
a movement below the surface
a canvas of water
the inhale of spring
 
I watch from the museum bench
buoyed
drinking it all in. 

Jackie Sizemore
​
"With no hometown to speak of, I come from the Rust Belt, the South, and Tokyo. My poetry has appeared in Noble / Gas Qtrly, Print Oriented Bastards, Yes Poetry, and Variant Literature. My lyric essay was listed as a Notable Essay in the Best American Essays 2018. My projects have earned SAFTA and Wildacres residencies. I received my MFA from Boise State University and BA from Carnegie Mellon University."