Girl on the Hil

[Carousal]

Girl on the Hill


She stands in the winds embrace
Sunlit highlights on back and bustle
Eyes widening in silent protest
Rebuking the searching intimacy

Invasive now as a playful lover
The primitive intrusion
Of reaching fingers
On skirt and petticoats

Perplexing emotions
Elemental urging
Pushing further
The slipping mask of propriety

Paint licks urgent on pallet
A final flick and fleck of brush strokes
It is done
And we look to wonder


Is it possible to feel the sensuality of the wind? To be honest I haven’t a clue but I find that this painting by Claude Monet, La Promenade, to have a slightly erotic air about it and I certainly don’t visit art galleries searching for erotica. I wonder if anyone shares the same thoughts. Google La Promenade, to find the painting.

[chrisgas]

Hi, just a suggestion as I am not knowledgeable enough to comment on form etc. In your last stanza could you carry on with the erotic undertow by using something like "brush/es stroking" etc?

Regs Chris.

[Lock Key]

Can one feel the erotic pulse of nature, or the nature of ones own desire. Can the rain kiss the cheek of a gilded lover? Who can hold lava in a passionate embrace with out being set on fire.

[Erthona]

I don't know about the wind, but the air blowing Monroe's dress up certainly goes beyond the simply erotic.

I don't think anyone could call Toulouse- Lautrec's paintings non-erotic, although based on motion, it is much the same effect as the wind. However Monet's, La Promenade seems more a study in light than anything. Personally, I see nothing erotic about it, but for me, I think that is more about the woman's face, and the fact that her bustle (what an odd word) seems more the Victorian straightjacket than anything loose enough to titillate the senses. Then again, I have never worn such clothing. Regardless, you capture what you see well in the poem. My only question, is why the center justify? If it is suppose to represent an image, it certainly eludes me. I do think that the last line "And we look to wonder" makes the poem weaker, and could certainly be done away with.

dale