FROM THE BACK

after Edgar Degas, At the Louvre (Miss Cassatt), 1879

Turn me away, turn me inside out. Hide my eyes, show my back. Don’t stare at my low-heeled shoes or the cut of my Victorian clothes (dark, floor length, pleated). Imagine where I’m going – down this hall or that. Consider the angle of the floor – is the wood parquet slanting up into space?

Don’t worry about who is speaking – Cassatt or the other woman with Miss Cassatt. You may not know – you can’t see my face.

Whose paintings do you imagine Edgar thinks I am looking at? Think about that.