The Guitar Player


by Johannes Vermeer, c. 1672

Where is that yellow jacket trimmed with fur?
My wife will likely pose for me again.
For art of lasting value to occur,
I need a woman, not a mannequin.

But let us leave the maid alone this time.
She has her own domestic tasks to do.
Now, how could my next work be more sublime
Than what has proven easy to construe?

Perhaps positioning is worth a try.
Move Catharina leftward. Have her gaze
At nothing any onlooker can spy.
Behind her? Books, a painting to appraise.

The instrument itself? Another change.
The whole effect might border on the strange.

Jane Blanchard

 
If you have any thoughts about this poem, Jane Blanchard  would be pleased to hear them