Pierre Bonnard, oil on canvas, 1925
All the pleasures of the table, spread out
on a white linen cloth: one hard roll
nestled in a napkin, smear of butter
on a plate, grapes in a wicker pannier,
pyramid of lemons in a woven basket.
And Marthe, Bonnard’s wife, in the corner,
her faced turned in shadow. Each object
is bathed in radiant light. It’s momentary,
this snatched capture of food, wine, sunlight,
beloved partner, but doesn’t the transience
add to the pleasure? Looming behind her,
the dark blue door of the future, where
all of this has vanished. . . . .
Barbara CrookerBarbara Crooker is author of twelve chapbooks and ten full-length books of poetry, including Some Glad Morning, Pitt Poetry Series, University of Pittsburgh Poetry Press, longlisted for the Julie Suk award from Jacar Press, The Book of Kellls, which won the Best Poetry Book of 2019 Award from Poetry by the Sea, and Slow Wreckage, forthcoming from Grayson Books. Her other awards include: Grammy Spoken Word Finalist, the WB Yeats Society of New York Award, the Thomas Merton Poetry of the Sacred Award, and three Pennsylvania Council fellowships in literature. Her work appears in literary journals and anthologies, including The Bedford Introduction to Literature.
