Portrait of a Lady in an Evening Dress, by Catherine Allen

Yvette Giulbert, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (France) 1894

Portrait of a Lady in an Evening Dress

She enjoys life 
in spite of being a little old
and a little odd
with her thin orange hair 
penciled-in eyebrows
and pursed red painted mouth.
 
Does she realize 
as she peers provocatively 
from the corner of her eye, that she’s only
showing off her square jaw and long pointed nose?
 
No matter!  She’s sprightly
with those perky black shoulder tassels 
and graceful (if large) expressive hands 
in elegant elbow-length gloves.
 
The way her palms press flatly on thin air 
I think she could take off helicopter-like
whirling those cute tassels and laughing down at us 
from the corner of her bright red mouth.

Catherine Allen

Catherine Allen is a cultural anthropologist and writer.  Her publications include poems (Rhino, Anthropology & Humanism, The Ekphrastic Review, Black Poppy Review) and creative non-fiction (Foxboy, U Texas Press 2011), as well as ethnography and an ethnographic drama.  She lives in Greenbelt, Maryland with her dog Jimmy.