On Seeing the Portrait of Juliette Gordon Low by Edward Hughes, by Tamara Nicholl-Smith

Portrait of Juliette Gordon Low, by Edward Hughes (Britain) 1887

On Seeing the Portrait of Juliette Gordon Low by Edward Hughes
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I expected you to arrive 
on the painted plane in brown or 
olive drab, booted and ready 
to take on the woods, pitch a tent, 
or produce a spyglass. Why then
instead, do I see you painted 
in a pink cloud gown, reminiscent 
of Swan Lake or the Nutcracker,
your graceful arms ready to round 
over your head, and toes, 
ready to relevée? Silly me, 
to not at once suppose there to 
be a hunting knife beneath your 
dress, affixed by a garter to 
your leg. Silly me, to suppose 
the handling of snakes and maps
to be incompatible with 
twirling gracefully about the dance floor,
to forget that to be strong is not just to be stout,
especially when the willows 
have told us time and time again 
to bend is to be strong,
that grace can hold the world like silk. 
 
Tamara Nicholl-Smith
 
Tamara Nicholl-Smith is a poet and workshop leader living in Houston, TX. Her poetry has appeared on two Albuquerque city bus panels, one parking meter, various radio shows, a spoken-word techno classical piano fusion album, and in publications, such as: America, Ekstasis, The Examined Life Journal and Kyoto Journal. She recently completed her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Saint Thomas (Houston). She likes puns and enjoys her bourbon neat. Find her at tamaranichollsmith.com.