When I Look at the Pictures - Lawrence Ferlinghetti (13)

Who are they then
these women in this painting
seen so, deeply long agoModels he slept with
or lovers or others
he came uponcatching them as they were
back then
dreamt sleepers
on moving waters
eyes wide openpurple hair streaming
over alabaster bodiesin lavender currentsDark skein of hair blown back
from a darkened face
an arm flung out
a mouth half open
a hand
cupping its own breast
rapt dreamersor stoned realists
drifting motionless
lost sisters or
women-in-love
with themselves or others
pale bodies wrapt
in the night of women
lapt in light
in ground swells of
dreamt desire
dreamt delightStill strangers to us
yet not
strangersin that first night
in which we lose ourselves
And know each other

Poema de Lawrence Ferlinghetti para "Moving Water" de Gustav Klimt - 1898, Colecção Privada.