Photograph courtesy of Angela Hardy, used with permission.
THE TACTILE TEASE
Poets/Artists, #27 (2011 Portrait Studies)
Hardly an angel looks
Like her. The way she turns
Her eyes to the surprise of fingertips
Gently stroking her
Neck, wanting
Those tactile tips to be assertive,
Embrace her
Desires the way a tame bear tries
To shake loose those fires that loom inside
Her bosom: She makes sure she looks
The part, her lush lips painted to go
With that red wrap she bought at last,
To support her long black hair. She points us
To her find by raising her brows, in case we are blind
To the beauty of the black bathing suit
She threw on to impress the woman whose feminine fingers now
possess her.
Angela Hardy, “Hot Date With Ingres” — used with permission.
Visit www.angelahardyart.com to see more art by Angela Hardy. It’s worth the visit! Her painting and my poem were both based on the photograph, but we did not collaborate.