Self Portrait with Stained Glass and Feathers
—after Remedios Varo
As she works, everything wakes-upand takes notice: from the alembic
paint-machine assistant, to the magnifyingglass that she uses to render tropical
birds—Merlins and Yucatan Nightjars—that soon exit her canvas, spiral above
the church windows into a lostnight over-poured with bright constellations
which the painter lightens into breathing orbs;the same shape that her brown, raptor-like face
takes as she concentrates on her vision—and though the birds exhaust her, she pulls
each one out from her musical heart:the perfect body part for a woman transitioning
to an owl—which every girl knows—will require more than a prayer and a spell. [End Page 174]
Susan Rich has four collections of poetry, most recently Cloud Pharmacy (White Pine Press, 2014).
