Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson “When we are stuck, most of us look for a way out in the work of others.” from Three Roads to Quantum Gravity, by Lee Smolin Strip way the Malmsey and lye, the theatric alarm tripped by the Dark, warm ghosts of mace and tobacco and breath, the urge to grimace at the laid back cadaver whose public demise lives on as Brooding’s centerpiece-- and we’re left with another way to think: See for yourself. What is real is the work we do with our eyes, Prying’s rude science. As if to say Behold the beholders, Rembrandt paints us, not unlike you, without a clue, giddy-eyed as to what matters most: Doctor Tulp’s cold forceps or is it Vesalius at Kindt’s cold feet or—over there—the unseen who sees a work of art? Shelley Benaroya This poem was originally published in Ekphrasis. Shelley Benaroya is founding director and teaching artist for the Writing Center for Creative Aging (https://writingcenterforcreativeaging.com/), launched in 2008. Her poetry has appeared in all the sins, Burningwood Literary Journal, The Ekphrastic Review, Letters Journal, The Lyric, The Road Not Taken, Thirteenth Moon, and elsewhere. In 2017, she received the Ekphrasis Prize and a Pushcart Prize nomination.
2 Comments
David Belcher
9/15/2021 04:01:41 am
Excellent writing, you find something thoughtful to say, the painting is a starting point, you go on to explore, discover. Enjoyed.
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Shelley Benaroya
9/16/2021 09:46:29 am
Thank you, David. I very much enjoyed reading your "The Giantess" and "A Family" (like Botero, you've managed to squeeze a lot plumpness into the tight frame of that poem).
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February 2025
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