Trompe l’Oeil
It’s something about the way
he wields the rag that inspires her,
like the way the butcher’s thumbs
suggested a gladiator’s blood-smeared thighs,
and the fishmonger’s wrists, slippery wet
with fish scales, made her think of Poseidon.
The surrealist painter takes up her palette.
The window cleaner agrees to pose,
turns his hand to display a grubby palm.
With her brush she hammers in the nail.
Jennie Farley is a published poet, workshop leader and teacher. Her poetry has featured in magazines including New Welsh Review, Under the Radar, The Interpreter’s House and webzines. She runs events for an iconic arts club, NewBohemians@CharltonKings. Her first collection My Grandmother Skating (Indigo Dreams Pub) published 2016. Her new book Hex (IDP) out 2018.
atriumpoetry.com 