Smithereens Press Chapbooks The Sea Path by Ciarán O'Rourke | Page 33

Sunlight
(William Orpen, 1925)
Try as I might
to follow
the slow geometries
of flesh – from
your dipping leg,
along your hip,
to the pink
perfection of your neck –
catching every detail,
possessing the always
fuller picture
of your loops and lines,
you continue
to elude the graph,
your face
a delicate elision,
your fingers dim
in their pertinent work,
your breasts
half-hidden
by light’s transparent
easing into place,
sliding like an illtimed lover
through the window,
impolitely
turning up the colours
as it goes,
so each drape
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