Vanitas Still Life by Alarie Tennille

Vanitas Still Life, attributed to Sébastien Bonnecroy (b. Antwerp), 1662.

Vanitas Still Life
 
Opposites attract, so Life
stays locked in its ill-fated
dance with Death. He leads
deftly, gentle hand on the small
of your back. Soon you trust
his dips, his lifts. He swings
you into the spotlight, lets you
collect your handful of applause.
Reels you back in for a sensual
slow dance you hope will last
forever even as the fiddler’s bow
clatters to the floor.

Alarie Tennille

Alarie Tennille was born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, and graduated from the University of Virginia in the first class admitting women. She became fascinated by fine art at an early age, even though she had to go to the World Book Encyclopedia to find it. Today she visits museums everywhere she travels and spends time at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, where her husband is a volunteer guide. Alarie’s poetry book, Running Counterclockwise, contains many ekphrastic poems. Please visit her at alariepoet.com.