WOMAN DESCENDING A STAIRCASE

WOMAN DESCENDING A STAIRCASE

 

Inside Manhattan’s Guggenheim,

I start at the gallery’s summit,

and follow the multi-leveled,

elliptical path to the bottom landing,

where I stare, grinning

at a Picasso aptly placed,

depicting women like Guggenheim’s

oval-shaped path,

an egg-shaped composite

of thigh and breast and calf.

 

An attractive lady slowly descends,

flits my way, moves in close, asks

why I broadly smile so I relate

the story of my math teacher,

a Christian Brother named Michael,

who taught senior geometry involving shapes -

triangles and parabolas, the latter referred to

as “nature’s curve,” a sly glint on his face like mine today

when I reveal that Picasso’s portrayal of women

is primarily parabolic.

 

She smiles warmly in return,

asks if I would like to get a bite,

so we leave Pablo for a café,

where we talk for hours,

so much so that I wonder

if we might soon adjourn to a hotel.

She wants my take on paintings,

but, like Pablo,

I’m more interested

in parabolas.