Portrait, by Scott Elder

Fille et Chevaux, by Majlen Sanchez (France). Contemporary.

Portrait

Let's run through it again.
Complexion—geisha white.

Cheeks—deep pink (too deep).
Hands—closed petals in her lap.

The young lady is sitting in
...call it an elm.

Two blood-red horses share her limb.
They're screamingly small and seem to be blind.

Nothing will come of this, she muttered in Finnish.
Don't worry, he whispered, apart from the pink

all is utterly perfect.  She looked aside.
The sky wilted for an instant.

Come my dear, we're nearly there.
She lifted her eyes.  The look was ancient.

It pierced the canvas and went on forever.

Scott Elder

This poem first appeared in Nimrod International.
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Scott Elder’s poems have been appeared in numerous magazines including The New Welsh Review, Southword (forthcoming), Orbis, The Moth, Poetry Salzburg, Cyphers, Cake, Nimrod International, The Antigonish Review, The French Literary Review, Crannog and The Journal. He was a runner-up in the Troubadour International Poetry Prize 2016 and among the winners of The Guernsey International Poetry Competition 2018 and Southport Writer’s Circle Competition 2017. His work has been highly commended in the Bristol Poetry Prize 2018,Poetry on the Lake International Competition 2018, Buzzwords Poetry Competition 2018, the Segora Poetry Competition 2015 the Brian Dempsey Memorial Competition 2017, and shortlisted in both the Fish Poetry Prize 2017 and the Plough Prize 2016 and 2017. His debut pamphlet, 'Breaking Away' 2015 was published by Poetry Salzburg and a first collection 'Part of the Dark' 2017 was published by Dempsey & Windle.
Poetry sites:   https://www.scottelder.co.uk/