study
by Ditta Baron Hoeber
[ poetry - january 11 ]
I found a postcard a photograph of a picnic which said on the back, "what do you think of this, look at me."
in the photograph were 3 women, four small children and one babe in arms. on the grass in front of them was a white cloth set with a bread, a pineapple surrounded by plums, two groups of spotty bananas, a quarter or so of a watermelon and a bread knife with a wire handle.
at one side of the picture a child sat in the grass by its mother holding a plum in both hands. at the other side a child sat up in a carriage bundled in a coat and blanket and wearing a ruffled bonnet. the others, more lightly dressed, were arranged in a semicircle between them.
everyone looked directly at the camera. the children, including the baby, each had a look that seemed to connect them to each other as well. this was true except for the child holding the plum. this child was nearest the camera, had an assertiveness or seemed to have no awareness of anyone else and thus his gaze had no second thought shadowing it. both he and his mother almost spoke to the camera and perhaps as a consequence moved just slightly and so were just slightly out of focus.
everyone else was perfectly still.
at nearly the center of the picture a woman on her knees with her arms wrapped around her at her waist looked down and across at the woman and the child with a plum. her head tilted slightly toward them and her mouth was minutely pursed as if she would momentarily speak. her eyebrows had very pronounced peaks at the middle like wide upside down v's and her face underneath the quiet was pretty.
she was somewhat younger than the other women
