The Knight Errant, by Allison Burris

The Knight Errant, by Sir John Everett Millais (England) 1870

The Knight Errant

1/ Royal Academy Exhibition

The audience is shocked at this affront--
the nude is not a naked success. The nerve of displaying
a woman who’s not even classical not even a goddess
naked! Delicate sensibilities are upset.

She has no story to hide behind, not even a fig leaf,
and she’s watching us watching her, coming
face to face with her flesh. It’s enough to make a man
blush, having to look her in the eyes. 

The point of an exhibition is a sale, and you could
never hang this in your home where your wife might see it,
your daughters getting all sorts of ideas 
about the chivalry of kidnap.

2/ The Artist

Fine. If they don’t want to face her, I’ll repaint her head.

He cuts her face out and sews it into a new canvas.
No point in wasting a martyr. This woman is clothed
and wrapped in another chain.

A modest face now. A maiden in distress ready to succour.
She’ll sell now, he thinks, convinces himself 
this angle of her neck is better really--

a swan, a swoon caught in her tangled hair
and the contrast is still so beautiful the shiny plate
glowing against her skin, luminous peach ripe for biting.

3/ Lady Birch

Can’t he hurry it up now? Get on with cutting the rope?
My clothes grow dirt-speckled 
crumpled among the roots while 

he’s too distracted to wipe the blood from his blade. 
I feel him lingering against my arm.
Can’t he see? that I could admire the waning crescent

moon glinting off his wandering helm
if he would only face me. We could see each other’s teeth.
I could sink mine into skin.

Allison Burris

​Allison Burris grew up in the Pacific Northwest and currently lives in Oakland, California. Her poems embrace the whimsical and cozy, explore human connection, and affirm the power of stories. She received her MLIS from San Jose State University and her poetry appears or is forthcoming in various journals, including Instant Noodles, Heartline Spec, Muleskinner, After Happy Hour Review, and The Marbled Sigh. Connect with her via https://linktr.ee/allisonburris