Mary Beth Hines
AND SHE WAS
after Edvard Munch’s Young Woman Under the Apple Tree
Caught. Captive. A still life
bound beneath Munch’s gnarl-fingered tree.
Damselfly-eyed. A somber model
in pert boater hat.
Prim as Hester Prynne after they pinned
the scarlet letter. Buttoned up. Guarded.
Master-crafted. All schoolmarmish hauteur
biding her time in his garden.
A reverse Eve, concealer of pleasures
just beyond his sight. Luxe mud beneath
skirt-swept bare feet. Toes curled senseless.
Clipped breath. A skipped beat.
A tidily contoured house dissolving
into blue. A corseted body mapping green,
anticipating skin, ravel, bite. Locks
unspooled. A whetted appetite.