I always thought you favored the bride Of Arnolfini, though I look nothing like him And would never wear his hat. They hold hands, as lovers will, But hers is turned upward in his As if he is showing us That it is empty. Her left hand tells Another story, resting on her belly Full with child. They are almost floating Inside their clothes. They more than float In the mirror, or between two mirrors. As is often the case in such matters, One of the mirrors is really a door Where a second couple stands, smaller and less clear, Though similar, asking to be us For as long as we stay here. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PLACE FOR A THIRD by ROBERT FROST INDEPENDENCE DAY, 1956, A FAIRY TALE by JAMES GALVIN SOUVENIR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO RICHARD R. WRIGHT - INSTRUCTOR by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON VOLUPTAS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE ITINERANT POET'S ROAD SONG by KAREN SWENSON |