The Artist Lures His Model, by Sandi Stromberg

Nude Against the Light, by Pierre Bonnard (France) 1908

The Artist Lures His Model  
  
Come, my reclusive love,
into the light,
to the archetypal bath.
Shed the darkness that haunts.
You are no Suzanna spied on
by lusty church elders.
Only by me
with the swans-down softness
of pastel pinks, blues,
marigolds. The mind is
a faithless maze that traps
your brilliant yellows and flesh
in jealousy. Come, bathe
for solace, to wash
away such bleak thoughts.
Let my brush
stroke the warm, sensuous
landscape of your body
onto canvas.
 
Sandi Stromberg

Sandi Stromberg led a nomadic life in five different countries before arriving in Houston—where putting down roots in gumbo earth has been challenging but worthwhile. In January 2019, she discovered the biweekly challenges from The Ekphrastic Review and a passion for combining words and art. Her essay, "My Ekphrastic Odyssey," appears in New Signs for Old Symbols: Ekphrastic Poetry Anthology 2022 from the Friendswood Public Library. Her poetry has been nominated three times for a Pushcart and twice for Best of the Net. Recent publications include Panoply, The Ekphrastic Review, MockingHeart Review, San Pedro River Review, easing the edges: a collection of everyday miracles, and in Dutch in the Netherlands in Brabant Cultureel.