Venus of Urbino

Was it the excitement of expectation?

A day of looking up at painted ceilings and

Gaping at soft, white flesh carved in marble?

Or, perhaps it was the swaying of your hips

That conspired against my senses and made

Me board a gondola of fancy that carried me

Down the murky waters of the canals of Time

To an age long ago when we first met at Urbino.

Like the mixing of pigments then, the tatters of

Memory paint you now on this canvas for all

To see: holding a short-lived flower in one hand,

The meeting place of your unshamed thighs in

The other, you remain my eternal, immovable

Venus.

Author's Note

Inspired by the painting titled "Venus at Urbino" by Titian.

Reviews

[Dave Brown]

I have never previously seen this painting
Obviously displaying great talent, I wonder if the mildly expanded mid-section indicated some slight urgency in marital plans