In a Museum, by Dan Blum

February 15, 2017

In a Museum, by Dan Blum

Eight at night

The water lilies in the dawn

The fishermen at dusk are gone

The guard extinguishes the light

And from the room of Rodin nudes

A gentle moaning now exudes

And fills the dark and ghostly halls

With a lover’s plaintive calls

And down in the curator’s lair

Amid a musty underworld

I hear the steps descend the stair.

Beside the bust of Pluto (under repair)

The feet, the legs, the face appear

It is the girl from that stunning Vermeer

“You have come,” I say,

“How long I have waited for this day!”

And in the vale that rests

Between the slopes of shawl that cross her breasts,

That ruby jewel Vermeer four hundred years ago had placed,

As though to mark the spot a kiss had graced

And say to all the eyes of history -

Student, disciple, admirer

Who love a mystery

It was her lover did sire her.

And then those locks of golden hair!

Strange to see them now untrussed

And free in the evening air

Yet otherwise it is just

As I had dreamed –

Dreamed, imagined, known

It would be, known from the way

She would turn her stare to me alone

Even on a Saturday

Of crowds and conversation,

And share some silent intimation,

Hint of something spied, appraised

Of certain possibilities raised.

“How long,” I say, “how long I’ve gazed,

Amid the coughs and rumbles and sighs,

Back through the centuries, into your eyes.

How many times I’ve looked at you and said,

You will be mine if I must join the dead

How fast this mortal coil would I shed

To kiss your fine and constant brow,

(Once compared to a galleon’s prow)

And wed your tender lips to mine!

We are one forever now.”

The look she casts upon me then!

So strange and soft and tender-eyed,

Innocent and somehow sage,

And smiling from deep inside

As though she held some ancient truth

Yet all the freshness of eternal youth.

“It cannot be,”

She gently says. “I fear

There are restrictions placed on me.

It was not easy coming here.”

Still, the sadness of her eyes,

Do they not say,

“You must persuade me and you may?”

And so I plead.

“We’ll fly beneath an El Greco sky

So fast the stars we shall outpace

So far

We shall escape all space

And wind up deep in Fragonard,

Rest an hour out of sight

Bathe within a dappled lake

And again take flight,

Reach Delacroix by day

Slip through Whistler by night

And sleep when we have reached Monet.”

She smiles. “You dream.”

Her lips

Are dimpled lightly at the tips.

“Now hear what I have come to say,

That though we may exchange a passing nod

Or smile a certain way

Know how it is

That it cannot, can never be

That I am eternally his.”

With that she slowly turns away,

Quietly ascends the stair,

Her footfalls stir the hallowed air,

And echo through the upper hall,

Fade to a distant, ghostly call

And cease.

She is there

At her place on the gallery wall.

Why Poetry on Medieval Scottish Time Travel Blog?

Why poetry? I will write more on Why poetry? later. The answer ties into my work on Theology of Music and the broader question of why art in our lives at all. I would rather say briefly (so the poem can stand on its own):

Why Dan's poetry?

Humor. Artistry. Craft.

I have read a number of Dan's poems and am always amazed at the skill and craft he brings to poetry, the way the lines, rhythm, and rhymes all seem to flow so effortlessly and roll off the tongue. They tell stories or paint pictures, and always with grace and humor.

Watch for more poetry to come, from many sources.

about the author

Dan Blum, poet, satirist, and novelist, grew up in New York, received his BA from Brandeis, and currently resides in Wellesley, Massachusetts with his family and his cat. He enjoys hiking, tennis, chess, and word games, and, notably, can peel an apple in a single motion without tearing the peel!

His first book, Lisa 33, a satirical work, was published by Viking with a six-figure advance. His second book, a humorous, tragic, and poignant work of literary fiction, The Feet Say Run, was published December 2016 by Gabriel's Horn Press.

You can find more of his writing at his Rotting Post blog.

COMING UP:

February 19 and 26: I'll be reading on the Vehicle of Expression, part of the Art Shanty Project
February 25, 2017: I will co-host Food Freedom on AM 950 with Laura Hedlund and Karen Olson Johnson. Guests: Michael Agnew, craft beer expert and Ross Fishman on Russian literature. We'll taste Russian beer: listen to the whole program from last month.